title: Neuropsychological correlates of ADHD symptoms in preschoolers.
abstract: The authors examined the neuropsychological status of 22 preschoolers at risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 50 matched control children, using measures of nonverbal working memory, perceptual and motor inhibition, and memory for relative time. All tasks included paired control conditions, which allowed for the isolation of discrete executive function constructs. Group differences were evident on several measures of neuropsychological functioning; however, after accounting for nonexecutive abilities, no deficits could be attributed to specific functions targeted by the tasks. Performance on executive measures was not related to objective indices of activity level or ratings of ADHD symptoms. Yet, the fact that at-risk preschoolers were highly symptomatic casts doubt on whether executive function deficits and/or frontostriatal networks contribute etiologically to early behavioral manifestations of ADHD.
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
authors.forename: David J
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8133-2730
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Marks
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology Doctoral Program.
authors.forename: Olga G
authors.initials: OG
authors.lastname: Berwid
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology Doctoral Program.
authors.forename: Amita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Santra
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology Doctoral Program.
authors.forename: Elizabeth C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Kera
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology Doctoral Program.
authors.forename: Shana E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Cyrulnik
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
authors.forename: Jeffrey M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Halperin
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology; D013223:Statistics as Topic