Overactivated contextual visual perception and response to a single dose of methylphenidate in children with ADHD

The pathogenesis of overactivated visual perception in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) remains unclear, which is interpreted as a cognitive compensation. The existing studies have proposed that perceptual abnormalities in neurodevelopmental disorders are associated with dysfunction of the contextual knowledge system, which influences the development and formation of perception. We hypothesized that alterations in contextual states may also be responsible for inducing perceptual abnormalities in ADHD. Therefore, the present study evaluated the characteristics of pre-stimulus alpha and its response to a single dose of methylphenidate (MPH). A total of 135 Chinese children participated in the first study, including 70 children with ADHD (age = 10.61 ± 1.93 years, female = 17) and 65 age- and sex-matched control children (age = 10.73 ± 1.93 years, female = 20). The second clinical trial included 19 Chinese children with ADHD (age = 11.85 ± 1.72 years, female = 4), with an identical visual spatial search task. Pre-stimulus alpha oscillations and P1 activity were significantly greater in children with ADHD than in the controls. Overactivated pre-stimulus alpha positively predicted P1. Both pre-stimulus alpha and P1 overactivation have beneficial effects on cognitive performance in children with ADHD. No intervening effect of a single dose of MPH on the compensatory activation of pre-stimulus alpha and P1 were observed. Our findings extended the perceptual activation to the contextual knowledge system, suggesting that compensatory perception in children with ADHD is more likely to be a top-down regulated cognitive operational process.