ADHD and Behavioral Inhibition: A Re-examination of the Stop-signal Task (original) (raw)
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The Japanese Journal of Special Education
is knewn well as a developmental disorder characterized by behavioral inhibition. The present study aimed to investigate developmental changes and characteristics of inhibitory control in children with ADHD. For this purpose, we used a stop-signal task, modifying the procedure in order to determine the timing of the stop delay so that the timing was related to individual response speed, Participants, elementary-school-age children with ADHD (jV == 18) and without ADHD (controls; N=64), were divided into 2 groups, younger and older. The children with ADHD had variable reaction time; the rate of their errors was high compared to the control children. Their reactions to go signals were ineficient; there were no differences between the 2 ADHD groups on the inhibition. Some children with ADHD were able to inhibit the response to go signals and used waiting strategies, as did the control children. However, the change in their inhibitory control with increasing age was slow in comparison with the control children. We found that how the strategies were used was related to inhibitory control.
Response inhibition of children with ADHD in the stop-signal task: An event-related potential study
International Journal of Psychophysiology, 2000
The Stop-Signal Task (SST) is a procedure that can provide a measure of inhibitory control of an ongoing motor response. We used the stop-signal paradigm to determine whether deficient inhibitory control distinguishes children with a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder combined type (ADHD-Com) from normally developing children, matched on age and sex. Participants performed a standard visual two-choice task
Neuropsychology Review, 2023
In recent years, there has been an increasing quest in improving our understanding of the neurocognitive deficits underlying adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Current statistical manuals of psychiatric disorders emphasize inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms, but empirical studies have also shown consistent alterations in inhibitory control. To date, there is no established neuropsychological test to assess inhibitory control deficits in adult ADHD. A common paradigm for assessing response inhibition is the stop-signal task (SST). Following PRISMA-selection criteria, our systematic review and meta-analysis integrated the findings of 26 publications with 27 studies examining the SST in adult ADHD. The meta-analysis, which included 883 patients with adult ADHD and 916 control participants, revealed reliable inhibitory control deficits, as expressed in prolonged SST response times, with a moderate effect size g = 0.51 (95% CI: 0.376-0.644,p < 0.0001). The deficits were not moderated by study quality, sample characteristics or clinical parameters, suggesting that they may be a phenotype in this disorder. The analyses of secondary outcome measures revealed greater SST omission errors and reduced go accuracy in patients, indicative of altered sustained attention. However, only few (N < 10) studies were available for these measures. Our meta-analysis suggests that the SST, in conjunction with other tests and questionnaires, could become a valuable tool for assessing inhibitory control deficits in adult ADHD.
Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 2015
The stop-signal task has been used extensively to investigate the neural correlates of inhibition deficits in children with ADHD. However, previous findings of atypical brain activation during the stop-signal task in children with ADHD may be confounded with attentional processes, precluding strong conclusions on the nature of these deficits. In addition, there are recent concerns on the construct validity of the SSRT metric. The aim of this study was to control for confounding factors and improve the specificity of the stop-signal task to investigate inhibition mechanisms in children with ADHD. FMRI was used to measure inhibition related brain activation in 17 typically developing children (TD) and 21 children with ADHD, using a highly controlled version of the stop-signal task. Successful inhibition trials were contrasted with control trials that were comparable in frequency, visual presentation and absence of motor response. We found reduced brain activation in children with ADHD in key inhibition areas, including the right inferior frontal gyrus/insula, and anterior cingulate/dorsal medial prefrontal cortex. Using a more stringent controlled design, this study replicated and specified previous findings of atypical brain activation in ADHD during motor response inhibition.
Restraint and Cancellation: Multiple Inhibition Deficits in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 2007
We used variations of the stop signal task to study two components of motor response inhibition—the ability to withhold a strong response tendency (restraint) and the ability to cancel an ongoing action (cancellation)—in children with a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and in non-ADHD controls of similar age (ages 7–14 years). The goal was to determine if restraint and cancellation were related and if both were deficient in ADHD. The stop signal task involved a choice reaction time task (go task) which required a rapid response. The demand for inhibitory control was invoked through the presentation of a stop signal on a subset of go trials which required that the ongoing response be suspended. The stop signal was presented either concurrently with the go signal (restraint version) or after a variable delay (cancellation version). In Study 1, we compared ADHD and control children on the cancellation version of the stop task; in Study 2, we compared ADHD and controls on the restraint version. In Study 3, a subset of ADHD and control participants completed both tasks so that we could examine convergence of these dimensions of inhibition. Compared to control participants, ADHD participants showed a deficit both in the ability to cancel and to restrain a speeded motor response. Performance on the restraint version was significantly correlated with performance on the cancellation version in controls, but not in ADHD participants. We conclude that ADHD is associated with deficits in both restraint and cancellation subcomponents of inhibition.
This study compares behavioral and electrophysiological (P300) responses recorded in a cued continuous performance task (CPT-AX) performed by children with attention deficit hyperactivity disordercombined subtype (ADHD-com) and age-matched healthy controls. P300 cognitive-evoked potentials and behavioral data were recorded in eight children with ADHD (without comorbidity) and nine control children aged 8-12 years while performing a CPT-AX task. Such task enables to examine several kinds of false alarms and three different kinds of P300 responses: the ''Cue P300'', the ''Go P300'' and the ''NoGo P300'', respectively, associated with preparatory processing/attentional orienting, motor/ response execution and motor/response inhibition.
Examining Manual and Visual Response Inhibition Among ADHD Subtypes
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 2010
This study compared inhibitory functioning among ADHD subtype groups on manual and visual versions of the stop task. Seventy-six children, identified as ADHD/I (n = 17), ADHD/C (n =43), and comparison (n = 20) completed both tasks. Results indicated that both ADHD groups were slower to inhibit responses than the comparison group on both tasks. Comparison children were faster to inhibit than activate responses on both tasks. Children in the ADHD groups also demonstrated this robust pattern on the manual task. However, on the visual task, the ADHD groups evidenced slowed inhibition comparable to the time required to activate responding. This implies that the visual task is more sensitive than the manual task to inhibitory deficits associated with ADHD. The ADHD/I and the ADHD/C groups did not differ on most measures, suggesting that neither stop task is effective in differentiating the subtypes. These findings extend work highlighting the role of disinhibition in ADHD, and contrast recent work suggesting divergence between ADHD subtypes.
Assessing inhibitory control: a revised approach to the stop signal task
… Attention Disorders, 2003
The stop signal task (stop task) is designed to assess inhibitory control and is a frequently used research tool in clinical disorders such as ADHD and schizophrenia. Previous methods of setting stop signal delay and of assessing inhibitory control are problematic.
Acta Neurologica Belgica, 2013
This study compares behavioral and electrophysiological (P300) responses recorded in a cued continuous performance task (CPT-AX) performed by children with attention deficit hyperactivity disordercombined subtype (ADHD-com) and age-matched healthy controls. P300 cognitive-evoked potentials and behavioral data were recorded in eight children with ADHD (without comorbidity) and nine control children aged 8-12 years while performing a CPT-AX task. Such task enables to examine several kinds of false alarms and three different kinds of P300 responses: the ''Cue P300'', the ''Go P300'' and the ''NoGo P300'', respectively, associated with preparatory processing/attentional orienting, motor/ response execution and motor/response inhibition.