Investigating Emotional Interference as a Potential Endophenotypic Marker in Attention-deficit Hyperactivity...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Genetics

Background:

• Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and their siblings often display emotional information processing deficits.
• Investigating cognitive and emotional conflict resolution is key to understanding the neural basis of emotional processing.
• Pre-stimulus electroencephalography (EEG) microstates and pre-response source localization offer insights into emotional processing mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine emotional interference using the emotional Stroop task (EST) in children with ADHD, their siblings, and neurotypical controls.
• To analyze behavioral performance, pre-stimulus EEG microstates, and pre-response source localization.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional observational study involving 43 children with ADHD, 17 siblings, and 40 controls.
• 128-channel EEG data collected during EST performance.
• Analysis of behavioral data, microstate parameters, and source localization.

Main Results:

• ADHD children and siblings exhibited slower reaction times than controls.
• ADHD children had lower accuracy, while siblings showed higher accuracy than controls and ADHD children.
• Increased cognitive resource allocation was observed in ADHD children and siblings, indicating preserved trait for conflict resolution.

Conclusions:

• The emotional Stroop task (EST) shows potential as a cognitive endophenotypic marker.
• EEG microstate analysis identified Map 2 as a state marker and Map 3 as a trait marker.
• Findings suggest preserved cognitive resource allocation as a trait in ADHD and siblings for managing emotional interference.