PMID: 26771696Jan 16, 2016Paper

Neurobiological correlates of cognitive flexibility in ADHD - A systematic review of the literature

Psychiatria Hungarica : A Magyar Pszichiátriai Társaság tudományos folyóirata
Sára BálintPál Czobor

Abstract

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most commonly diagnosed childhood psychiatric disorders, which persists to adulthood in 30-50% of the cases. Previous studies have shown that cognitive flexibility, which means to switch between two different rules, that can be tested with task switching paradigms, is affected. Although poor performance in cognitive flexibility tests has been demostrated, the neurobiological background is only partly known. The aim of our review was to examine the neurobiological background of impairment of cognitive flexibility in ADHD, with a specific focus on functional MRI (fMRI) and electrophysiological (electroencephalography, EEG) studies. We searched MEDLINE, PubMed, and PsychInfo using the following keywords: 'ADHD', 'cognitive flexibility', 'set shifting', 'task switching', 'EEG', 'fMRI'. Compared to healthy controls, ADHD patients showed reduced activation in regions of the prefrontal and parietal lobe and in the basal ganglia. However in two studies, increased activation was also observed in specific regions of temporal lobe and in anterior cingulate cortex. Magnetoencephalographic results indicated that instead of an increased activity in medio-temporal lobe, ADHD patien...Continue Reading

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Attention Disorders

Attention is involved in all cognitive activities, and attention disorders are reported in patients with various neurological diseases. Here are the latest discoveries pertaining to attention disorders.

Basal Ganglia

Basal Ganglia are a group of subcortical nuclei in the brain associated with control of voluntary motor movements, procedural and habit learning, emotion, and cognition. Here is the latest research.