title: Auditory conflict processing in ADHD.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Impaired cognitive control has been implicated as an important developmental pathway to attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Cognitive control is crucial to suppress interference resulting from conflicting information and can be measured by Stroop-like tasks. This study was conducted to gain insight into conflict processing in children with ADHD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in an auditory Stroop task. Twenty-four children with ADHD were compared with 24 control children (aged 8-12 years).
  
  
  RESULTS
  No deficit in interference control was found on the auditory Stroop task in children with ADHD. Children with ADHD responded more slowly, less accurately and more variably compared to controls. No differences between the groups occurred in the early conflict-related ERPs. However, the difference between the congruent and the incongruent condition in the 450-550 ms time window was absent in the ADHD group compared to controls. In addition, the conflict sustained potential was found frontally in the ADHD group but parietally in the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These ERP findings suggest that children with ADHD evaluate conflict to a lesser extent and differ in the way their brains select appropriate responses during conflict compared with controls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuropsychology, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: van Mourik
authors.forename: Joseph A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Sergeant
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Heslenfeld
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Konig
authors.forename: Jaap
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oosterlaan
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes; D057190:Stroop Test