"Arousal" or "Activation" dysfunction in the frontal region of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Evidence from an electroencephalogram study

Abstract

The goal of the present study is to test whether there is "Arousal" or "Activation" Dysfunction in the frontal region of children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD). The sample consists of 62 children (31 with AD/HD and 31 non-AD/HD children as controls) who were drawn from an elementary school. Patterns of cortical activity were measured using EEG under three conditions: Eyes-Closed (EC), Eyes-Opened (EO) resting and Mental Arithmetic Task (MAT) conditions, and compared according to AD/HD diagnostic status. Significant main effects for all frequency bands across conditions were found. The AD/HD group showed less elevation of beta relative power than controls suggesting deficiency of cortical activation in the AD/HD group. AD/HD group showed significantly elevated alpha power in eyes-opened resting state. Theta/beta ratio was less reduced for AD/HD than for controls when going from EC to EO to MAT state. The implications of the results were discussed. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.