0786 ADHD Symptoms Moderate the Neural Vulnerability of Inhibition to Sleep Loss in Children

Abstract

Introduction Sleep disruption is a proposed mechanism underlying disinhibition in attention-deficit/hyperactivity-disorder (ADHD); however, whether ADHD symptoms bestow increased vulnerability to sleep loss is unknown. Thus, we combined a behavioral go/no-go paradigm with functional neuroimaging in a dimensional sample of child ADHD to test whether those with more ADHD symptoms will be less resilient to the consequences of short sleep. Methods 13 children (7F; aged 11.7±1.3 years) were characterized for ADHD symptomatology (inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity) using Conners-3 scales, before sleeping at home for a week (9.5h time-in-bed [TIB]). Each then slept in the laboratory for two consecutive EEG-monitored nights: baseline (9.5h TIB) followed by restriction to 4h TIB (20h extended wake). fMRI-monitored visual go/no-go task assessing the neural systems underlying behavioral inhibition occurred each morning. Mixed-effects modelling assessed whether ADHD symptoms moderate the impact of sleep loss on behavioral and neural indices of inhibition; all models covaried age and gender. Results Our sample captured a range of parent-rated ADHD symptoms (inattention T-scores: 38-72; mean: 51.15±10.38; hyperactivity/impulsivity: 41-89; mean: 54.7±14.2). Extended wakefulness was associated with faster (213.5 ms) response times (RT) on go/no-go trials after commission errors (F(1,10.06)=10.46; p