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BACKGROUND: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by problems in directing and sustaining attention. Recent findings suggest that alpha oscillations (8-12 Hz) are crucially involved in gating information between brain regions when allocating attention. The current study investigates whether aberrant modulation of alpha oscillations contributes to attention problems in ADHD patients. METHODS: Magnetoencephalographic signals were recorded in adults with ADHD (n = 17) and healthy control subjects (n = 18) while they performed a visuospatial attention task. Cues directed attention to the left or right visual hemifield with an 80% validity with respect to the upcoming target. RESULTS: Unlike the control group, subjects with ADHD showed a higher accuracy for invalidly cued right targets compared with invalidly cued left targets (p = .04). This coincided with an inability of the ADHD subjects to sustain the posterior hemispheric alpha lateralization in the period before the target for the left cue condition (p = .011). Furthermore, the control group showed a strong correlation between the degree of alpha lateralization and the magnitude of the cueing effect assessed in terms of accuracy (rs = .71, p = .001) and reaction times (rs =-.81, p

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.02.001

Type

Journal article

Journal

Biol Psychiatry

Publication Date

01/08/2013

Volume

74

Pages

227 - 233

Keywords

ADHD, attention, bias, electroencephalography, magnetoencephalography (MEG), oscillations, Adult, Alpha Rhythm, Attention, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Brain Mapping, Cues, Electroencephalography, Female, Functional Laterality, Humans, Linear Models, Magnetocardiography, Male, Photic Stimulation, Reaction Time, Young Adult