title: Cognitive-electrophysiological indices of attentional and inhibitory processing in adults with ADHD: familial effects.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that starts in childhood and frequently persists in adults. In a comparison of adults with ADHD and a matched control sample, we previously showed that abnormal inhibitory processing is typically preceded or accompanied by other processing deficits in adult ADHD. We now compare these data further to additional data from first-degree relatives (fathers) of children with ADHD to identify whether this pattern of abnormal processing shares familial influences with ADHD in adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a family design, we compared 20 fathers of children with the combined subtype of ADHD with 21 adults with ADHD combined subtype and 20 controls in event-related potential indices of preparatory states and subsequent response inhibition processing as elicited by a cued continuous performance task.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fathers of children with ADHD exhibited significantly weaker orienting attention to cues and inhibitory processing than the controls but not the ADHD sample.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings provide evidence for the familial association of attentional orienting and response inhibition processes with ADHD in adults and indicate a familial and neurobiological link between ADHD in children and adults.
authors.affiliation: MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK. grainne.mcloughlin@kcl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Gráinne
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McLoughlin
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Asherson
authors.forename: Bjoern
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Albrecht
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Banaschewski
authors.forename: Aribert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rothenberger
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brandeis
authors.forename: Jonna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kuntsi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D055724:Electrophysiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult