title: Effect of visual attention on postural control in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
abstract: We compared the effect of oculomotor tasks on postural sway in two groups of ADHD children with and without methylphenidate (MPH) treatment against a group of control age-matched children. Fourteen MPH-untreated ADHD children, fourteen MPH-treated ADHD children and a group of control children participated to the study. Eye movements were recorded using a video-oculography system and postural sway measured with a force platform simultaneously. Children performed fixation, pursuits, pro- and anti-saccades. We analyzed the number of saccades during fixation, the number of catch-up saccades during pursuits, the latency of pro- and anti-saccades; the occurrence of errors in the anti-saccade task and the surface and mean velocity of the center of pressure (CoP). During the postural task, the quality of fixation was significantly worse in both groups of ADHD children with respect to control children; in contrast, the number of catch-up saccades during pursuits, the latency of pro-/anti-saccades and the rate of errors in the anti-saccade task did not differ in the three groups of children. The surface of the CoP in MPH-treated children was similar to that of control children, while MPH-untreated children showed larger postural sway. When performing any saccades, the surface of the CoP improved with respect to fixation or pursuits tasks. This study provides evidence of poor postural control in ADHD children, probably due to cerebellar deficiencies. Our study is also the first to show an improvement on postural sway in ADHD children performing saccadic eye movements.
authors.affiliation: UMR1141, INSERM - Université Paris Diderot, Hôpital Robert Debré, 48 Boulevard Sérurier, 75019 Paris, France. Electronic address: mariapia.bucci@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Maria Pia
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Bucci
authors.affiliation: e(ye)BRAIN, 1 bis rue Jean le Galleu, 94200 Ivry-sur-Seine, France(1).
authors.forename: Magali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seassau
authors.affiliation: Service de Psychopathologie de l'enfant et de l'adolescent, Hôpital Robert Debré, 48 Boulevard Sérurier 75019 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Sandrine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Larger
authors.affiliation: Service d'Ophtalmologie, Hôpital Robert Debré, 48 Boulevard Sérurier, 75019 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bui-Quoc
authors.affiliation: Service de Psychopathologie de l'enfant et de l'adolescent, Hôpital Robert Debré, 48 Boulevard Sérurier 75019 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Christophe-Loic
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Gerard
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects*; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D053483:Eye Movement Measurements; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008774:Methylphenidate / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000187:drug effects*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012438:Saccades / Q000187:drug effects; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D008774:Methylphenidate
keywords: ADHD; Children; Dual-task; Eye movements; Methylphenidate; Posture