title: Voluntary saccades in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Looking into the relationship between motor impairment and Autism Spectrum Disorder symptoms.
abstract: Although there is little overlap in core diagnostic criteria for ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), ASD symptoms are estimated to co-occur in children with ADHD in 20-50% of cases. As motor control deficits are common to both disorders, we investigated the impact of ASD symptoms on ocular motor control in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder-Combined Type (ADHD-CT), using a cued saccade paradigm sensitive to cerebellar ocular motor impairment in ASD. Basic saccade metrics (latency, velocity and accuracy), trial-to-trial variability, and main sequences relationships (saccade velocity for a given amplitude) were assessed, for 14 males with ADHD-CT and 14 typically developing (TD) males (aged 8-14, IQ>80). Our results revealed that saccade profiles of the ADHD-CT group showed a pattern of hypermetria and altered main sequence. As the cerebellum is crucially involved in the regulation of saccade parameters, we propose that this pattern of deficit in ADHD-CT is consistent with the widely reported morphological abnormalities in ocular motor vermis (cerebellar lobules VI-VII) in ADHD-CT and ASD.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Level 4, 18 Innovation Walk, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia.
authors.forename: Amanda J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Connolly
authors.affiliation: Deakin Child Study Centre, School of Psychology, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia.
authors.forename: Nicole J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Rinehart
authors.affiliation: School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Level 4, 18 Innovation Walk, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia.
authors.forename: Beth
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Deakin Child Study Centre, School of Psychology, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Papadopoulos
authors.affiliation: School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Level 4, 18 Innovation Walk, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia; Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fielding
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D053483:Eye Movement Measurements; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology; D014836:Volition
keywords: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; Autism Spectrum Disorder; cerebellum; motor; voluntary saccades