title: Transcranial oscillatory direct current stimulation during sleep improves declarative memory consolidation in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder to a level comparable to healthy controls.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Slow oscillations (<1 Hz) during slow wave sleep (SWS) promote the consolidation of declarative memory. Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been shown to display deficits in sleep-dependent consolidation of declarative memory supposedly due to dysfunctional slow brain rhythms during SWS.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Using transcranial oscillating direct current stimulation (toDCS) at 0.75 Hz, we investigated whether an externally triggered increase in slow oscillations during early SWS elevates memory performance in children with ADHD.
  
  
  METHODS
  12 children with ADHD underwent a toDCS and a sham condition in a double-blind crossover study design conducted in a sleep laboratory. Memory was tested using a 2D object-location task. In addition, 12 healthy children performed the same memory task in their home environment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Stimulation enhanced slow oscillation power in children with ADHD and boosted memory performance to the same level as in healthy children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data indicate that increasing slow oscillation power during sleep by toDCS can alleviate declarative memory deficits in children with ADHD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Center for Integrative Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Germany. Electronic address: a.prehn@zip-kiel.de.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prehn-Kristensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Center for Integrative Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Munz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Center for Integrative Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Göder
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioural Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Germany; Child Development Center, University Children's Hospital Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Wilhelm
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Center for Integrative Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Korr
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Center for Integrative Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Wiebke
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Vahl
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Center for Integrative Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Wiesner
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Center for Integrative Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Lioba
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Baving
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D017286:Polysomnography; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D065908:Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
keywords: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; Children; Declarative memory; Sleep; Slow oscillations; Transcranial oscillating direct current stimulation