title: Speed of performance of children with developmental right hemisphere syndrome and with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
abstract: Slowness is a common complaint in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and with developmental right hemisphere syndrome. However, it was our clinical impression that slowness in developmental right hemisphere syndrome was more prominent than in ADHD. Our objective was to assess slowness as operationalized by speed of performance in children with developmental right hemisphere syndrome, children with ADHD, and controls. The research sample comprised 19 children in each group, matched for age, gender, socioeconomic status, IQ, and handedness. The subjects were administered a reaction time battery assessing speed of performance. Overall, the average performance differed among the three study groups (F(2,53) = 2.40, P < .01). Children with developmental right hemisphere syndrome were slower than their peers with ADHD (t(35) = 1.99, P < .05) and slower than controls (t(35) = 4.55, P < .001). Children with ADHD performed more slowly than controls, although for the majority of tasks, this was nonsignificant. We conclude that slowness is an integral and consistent component of developmental right hemisphere syndrome and cannot be attributed only to the ADHD symptomatology.
authors.affiliation: Neuropediatric Unit, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel. landauy@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
authors.forename: Yael E
authors.initials: YE
authors.lastname: Landau
authors.forename: Judith G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Auerbach
authors.forename: Varda
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gross-Tsur
authors.forename: Ruth S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Shalev
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013577:Syndrome; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013996:Time and Motion Studies