title: Variation in Parasympathetic Dysregulation Moderates Short-term Memory Problems in Childhood Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.
abstract: Although attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with impairment in working memory and short-term memory, up to half of individual children with ADHD perform within a normative range. Heterogeneity in other ADHD-related mechanisms, which may compensate for or combine with cognitive weaknesses, is a likely explanation. One candidate is the robustness of parasympathetic regulation (as indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia; RSA). Theory and data suggest that a common neural network is likely tied to both heart-rate regulation and certain cognitive functions (including aspects of working and short-term memory). Cardiac-derived indices of parasympathetic reactivity were collected during short-term memory (STM) storage and rehearsal tasks from 243 children (116 ADHD, 127 controls). ADHD was associated with lower STM performance, replicating previous work. In addition, RSA reactivity moderated the association between STM and ADHD - both as a category and a dimension - independent of comorbidity. Specifically, conditional effects revealed that high levels of withdrawal interacted with weakened STM but high levels of augmentation moderated a positive association predicting ADHD. Thus, variations in parasympathetic reactivity may help explain neuropsychological heterogeneity in ADHD.
authors.affiliation: Center for Children and Families, Department of Psychology, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th St., AHC 4 455, Miami, FL, 33199, USA. arward@fiu.edu.
authors.forename: Anthony R
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6606-5574
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA.
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Alarcón
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA.|Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA.
authors.forename: Joel T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Nigg
authors.affiliation: Center for Children and Families, Department of Psychology, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th St., AHC 4 455, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
authors.forename: Erica D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Musser
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001342:Autonomic Nervous System Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D065809:Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; Executive function; Psychophysiology; RSA; Working memory