Latent inhibition and asymmetrical visual-spatial attention in children with ADHD.
The research was designed to determine whether the purported hemispheric asymmetries that are associated with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affect performance on a selective attention visual search task, and whether any obtained asymmetry will be modulated by methylphenidate. Two groups of children (8-15 years) with ADHD, one with methylphenidate treatment (ADHD+) and one without (ADHD+), were compared to matched controls on a two-stage visual search task. The task assessed right-left visual field asymmetries and the effects of changing a previous distractor into a target. Such a procedure, related to latent inhibition (LI; poorer performance to a previously irrelevant stimulus than to a novel one), can provide evidence for dysfunctional processing of irrelevant stimuli. All three groups exhibited the LI effect. The ADHD group, however, exhibited less LI for left- than right-side targets, an effect absent in the control and ADHD+ groups, suggesting a lateralized attentional deficit for ADHD+ that was normalized by methylphenidate.
Lubow
R E
RE
Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel. lubow@freud.tau.ac.il
Braunstein-Bercovitz
Hedva
H
Blumenthal
Orit
O
Kaplan
Oren
O
Toren
Paz
P
D001288:Attention; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008774:Methylphenidate / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011930:Reaction Time; D013028:Space Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014796:Visual Perception
D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D008774:Methylphenidate