title: Impaired visuomotor adaptation in adults with ADHD.
abstract: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent psychiatric disorder in children that often continues into adulthood. It has been suggested that motor impairments in ADHD are associated with underlying cerebellar pathology. If such is the case, individuals with ADHD should be impaired on motor tasks requiring healthy cerebellar function. To test this, we compared performance of individuals with ADHD and ADHD-like symptoms with non-ADHD controls on a visuomotor adaptation task known to be impaired following cerebellar lesions. Participants adapted reaching movements to a visual representation that was rotated by 30°. Individuals with ADHD and those with ADHD-like symptoms took longer to correct the angle of movement once the rotation was applied relative to controls. However, post-adaptation residual effect did not differ for individuals with ADHD and ADHD-like symptoms compared to the control group. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that mild cerebellar deficits are evident in the motor performance of adults with ADHD.
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience and Behavior Program, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Laura B F
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Kurdziel
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dempsey
authors.forename: Mackenzie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zahara
authors.forename: Eve
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Valera
authors.forename: Rebecca M C
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Spencer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D005790:General Adaptation Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult