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Selective Inhibition in Children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Off and On Stimulant Medication

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Abstract

Selective inhibition requires discrimination between auditory signals and is assessed using a modification of the stop-signal task. Selective inhibition was assessed in a group of 59 clinic-referred, DSM-IV-diagnosed children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and compared to that of a community sample of 59 children. Methylphenidate (MPH) effects on selective inhibition were assessed in a subset of the ADHD sample that participated in an acute, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial with 3 fixed doses of MPH. Children with ADHD performed more poorly than controls on the majority of selective stop-signal task parameters: they exhibited more anticipatory (invalid) responses, with less accurate and more variable responses on the response execution task, as well as a slower selective inhibition process. MPH improved speed of both inhibition and response execution processes; it also reduced variability of response execution and decreased nonselective inhibition. On the one hand, findings are consistent with purported inhibition deficit in ADHD, but on the other hand, suggest that neither the impairment itself, nor MPH effects, were restricted to inhibition.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Medical Science, The University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.

    Anne-Claude Bedard

  2. Brain and Behaviour Research Unit, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada

    Anne-Claude Bedard, Abel Ickowicz, Russell Schachar & Rosemary Tannock

  3. Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Tennessee

    Gordon D. Logan

  4. Institute of Work and Health, The University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Sheilah Hogg-Johnson

Authors
  1. Anne-Claude Bedard
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  2. Abel Ickowicz
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  3. Gordon D. Logan
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  4. Sheilah Hogg-Johnson
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  5. Russell Schachar
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  6. Rosemary Tannock
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Correspondence to Rosemary Tannock.

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Bedard, AC., Ickowicz, A., Logan, G.D. et al. Selective Inhibition in Children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Off and On Stimulant Medication. J Abnorm Child Psychol 31, 315–327 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023285614844

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