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This study developed and validated a measure of sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) for adults, which is a comorbid symptom in about half of the adults with ADHD. The aim of this new measure was to overcome the shortcoming of existing scales to discriminate SCT from depression due to contaminated items. The items to measure SCT were identified by a literature review, and their content validity was evaluated by experts. The items were rated in reference to situations when the participants were not depressed. Responses of 471 undergraduate students were used for factor analyses to help select the items. The results of a joint factor analysis, combining depression items and SCT items, showed that this new measure of SCT for adults demonstrated a good ability to discriminate SCT from depression. The resultant 9-item SCT scale showed adequate convergent validity, discriminant validity, and internal consistency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the effectiveness of various cognitivebehavioral therapies on reduction of ADHD syndrome. The research method was semi-experimental. The population of this study included all schoolchildren aged 7 to 12 years old who received diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) and referred to psychiatric counseling clinics of Tehran city in November and December 2016. Out of this, 80 subjects were selected by cluster sampling method and available sampling. They were randomly assigned to three experimental and one control groups. The information was collected using Parental and Teacher's ADHD Scale. To analyze the collected data, multivariate covariance test was used. The findings of this study showed that individual counseling has a significant effect on the reduction of ADHD syndrome in the parents scale and the teachers scale, and in all components of behavior in the class, participation and group collaboration, and attitude toward the power authorities, and reducing the syndrome of ADHD Also, the findings of this study showed that group counseling and parent education only affect the ADHD syndrome in the parent form and in the overall score of teacher form and also in the component of group collaboration and collaboration. Meanwhile, the findings of this study showed that there is no significant difference between the three methods of cognitive-behavioral therapy, namely, individual counseling, group counseling and parent education in reducing the syndrome of ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Comprehensive neuropsychological assessment considers symptoms in an individual, based on the understanding of structure and function of the brain, and can lead to a better understanding of the symptoms, and eventually more effective treatment recommendations. The aim of this research was to study and compare the neuropsychological character and theory of mind as well as the correlation between them in ADHD and normal children. Materials and Methods: This was a casual-comparative study. 25 ADHD children were selected through convenience sampling and 25 normal children were selected through cluster sampling. Finally, the Connors Neuropsychological Inventory and Theory of Mind Test were applied to assess the participants. The data were analyzed through multivariate, t test, and Pearson correlation. Results: Our findings showed that there is a significant difference between these two groups in terms of the theory of mind and the three subscales of the neuropsychological inventory (attention problem (P=0.001), executive function (P=0.0001), and reading function (P=0.027). ADHD children had lower efficiency than normal children did in theory of mind (P=0.009) and the three subscales of the neuropsychological inventory. However, there was no correlation between neuropsychological characteristics and theory of mind in ADHD and normal children. Conclusion: It can be concluded that neuropsychological tests can be used as a complement to behavioral tests for diagnostic assessment of ADHD children. In addition, it was observed that ADHD children require rehabilitations program focused on academic performance, attention problems, and reading performance, as well as theory of mind. Hence, the necessary measures should be taken for these children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood disorders that can often continue through adolescence and adulthood. Different treatment methods have been used so far for treating this disorder. In recent years, mindfulness-based treatment approaches have attracted the attention of researchers. This research aims to investigate the effect of mindfulness-based treatment on the symptoms of ADHD and mindfulness score in adolescents suffering from ADHD. Materials and Methods: The present research is a clinical trial research with pretest-posttest design and control group (IRCT code: IRCT2016011826079N1). The study sample included 30 female first and second grade high school students in Gonabad suffering from ADHD. The tools used in the research included clinical interview, SNAP-IV Parent Rating Scale, and Mindful Attention Awareness Scale. The experimental group received eight 90-minute sessions of mindfulness-based treatments and the control group was assigned to a waiting list. The data was analyzed through descriptive statistics and univariate analysis of covariance by SPSS version 20 software. Results: According to our findings, the experimental group reported fewer symptoms of ADHD in posttest (P<0.001) compared to the control group. Moreover, the mindfulness of the experimental group improved in the posttest (P<0.001) compared to the control group. Conclusion: The results of the research show that mindfulness-based treatment improved the symptoms of ADHD and mindfulness in adolescents suffering from ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to identify the effectiveness of the counselling program for mothers in reducing the intensity of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) in their children in the State of Kuwait. The sample consisted of 64 male primary school pupils (mean age 9.64 years,S.D,1.21) along with their mothers (average age 35.37 years,S.D,4.60). The study used two tools: 1) The scale for evaluating the symptoms ofADHDin children and 2) the counseling program conducted on the mothers. The study uses the mean, standard deviation and t-test as well as size of effect as statistical measures to verify the hypotheses. The results of the study show the effectiveness of the counselling program for mothers in reducing the symptoms of ADHD in their children based on comparing: 1) the means for the control and experimental groups 2) the change in the grade in the experimental group before and after the counselling program and 3) no difference in the post and follow up scales in the experimental group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amphetamines (AMPH) are psychostimulants widely used for therapy as well as for recreational purposes. Previous results of our group showed that AMPH exposure in pregnant rats induces physiological and behavioral changes in the offspring at prepubertal and postpubertal ages. In addition, several reports have shown that AMPH are capable of modifying the morphology of neurons in some regions of the limbic system. These modifications can cause some psychiatric conditions. However, it is still unclear if there are changes to behavioral and morphological levels when low doses of AMPH are administered at a juvenile age. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of AMPH administration (1 mg/kg) in Sprague-Dawley rats (postnatal day, PD21-PD35) on locomotor activity in a novel environment and compare the neuronal morphology of limbic system areas at three different ages: prepubertal (PD 36), pubertal (PD50) and postpubertal (PD 62). We found that AMPH altered locomotor activity in the prepubertal group, but did not have an effect on the other two age groups. The Golgi-Cox staining method was used to describe the neural morphology of five limbic regions: (Layers 3 and 5) the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the dorsal and ventral hippocampus, the nucleus accumbens and the amygdala, showing that AMPH induced changes at pubertal ages in arborization and spine density of these neurons, but interestingly these changes did not persist at postpubertal ages. Our findings suggest that even early-life AMPH exposure does not induce long-term behavioral and morphological changes, however it causes alterations at pubertal ages in the limbic system networks, a stage of life strongly associated with the development of substance abuse behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal" mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0 mso-tstyle-colband-size:0 mso-style-noshow:yes mso-style-priority:99 mso-style-qformat:yes mso-style-parent:"" mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt mso-para-margin:0cm mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt mso-pagination:widow-orphan font-size:11.0pt font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif" mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman" mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin mso-bidi-font-family:Arial mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi} Background: Recent evidence suggest that group A ß-hemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) infection may increase the risk of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders (PANDAS) composed of the clinical signs of obsessive-compulsive and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders. The objective of this study was to compare the titer of antibodies against GABHS between children with PANDS and the controls.Methods : This cross-sectional, case-control study was done in Hazrat Rasoul Hospital, in Tehran, Iran during 2008-2010. We compared serum antibodies streptolysin O, deoxyribonuclease B, and streptokinase against GABHS quantitatively in 79 cases with PANDAS and 39 age-matched controls. The area under ROC curve, sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value (PPV) of tests were calculated.Results : Most cases were studied in summer (57%) and spring (23%). The three aforesaid antibodies were higher in the cases (P=0.001). Antisterptolysin O (cut-off point 195) had a 90% sensitivity, 82% specificity and a 92% PPV, (CI=95%, 0.99-0.91). Anti streptokinase (cut-off point 223) had an 82% sensitivity, 82% specificity and a 95% PPV, (CI=95%, 0.934-0.735). Anti-DNase (cut-off point 140) had an 82% sensitivity, 82% specificity and a 95% PPV, (CI=95%, 0.99-0.91). Conclusion: The study demonstrated a possible role for streptococcal infection in PANDAS. We found a significantly higher antibody titer against GABHS in OCD and ADHD cases in comparison with healthy children. Treatment of streptococcal infection is achievable by the use of long-acting penicillin. Use of aggressive treatment schedules like plasmaphresis, IVIG, etc needs further RCT studies.

ABSTRACT: Introduction & Objective: Methylphenidate is one of the basic drugs in treating ADHD. According to many clinical studies, the foreign form of methylphenidate (ritalin) is more efficient than the Iranian form of the drug (stimidate). This study aimed to compare the efficacy of stimidate and Ritalin in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactive disorder. Materials & Methods: In this double blind, randomized clinical trial, 200 children with attention deficit hyperactive disorder who referred to Isfahan psychiatric clinics were studied. For 100 of these patients ritalin was prescribed while others received stimidate. After 4 weeks, changes in severity of symptoms were evaluated with parental form of Conner's questionnaire. Results: After 4 weeks of treatment, the mean decrease of Conner's number in Ritalin group was 19.63±13.5 and in Stimidate group was 3.29±7.2. Ritalin had effectiveness in treatment of 83.3 percent of the patients ( 6 reduction in Conner's number), but Stimidate was only effective in treating 37.5 percent of the patients. Conclusion: This study showed that foreign methylphenidate (ritalin) is more effective than the Iranian form of the medicine (stimidate).

Background: There are inconsistent reports regarding the association between general anesthesia and adverse neurodevelopmental and behavioral disorders in children., Methods: This nationwide administrative cohort study included children born in Korea between 2008 and 2009, and followed until December 31, 2017. The cohort included 93,717 participants who received general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation (ETI) who were matched to unexposed subjects in a 1:1 ratio. General anesthesia was defined by National Health Insurance Service treatment codes with intratracheal anesthesia, and the index date was the first event of general anesthesia. The primary outcome was attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), which was defined as at least a principal diagnosis of 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases code F90.X after the age of 72 months. Neurodevelopment, which was assessed using a developmental screening test (Korean-Ages and Stages Questionnaire [K-ASQ]), was a secondary outcome. The K-ASQ is performed annually from 1 to 6 years of age and consists of 5 domains. The association between general anesthesia and ADHD was estimated using a Cox hazard model, and its association with neurodevelopment was estimated using a generalized estimation equation, with control for multiple risk factors beyond 1 year after the index date., Results: The median age at the index date was 3.8 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.7-5.8) years, and there were 57,625 (61.5%) men. During a mean follow-up period of 5 years, the incidence rate of ADHD was 42.6 and 27.7 per 10,000 person-years (PY) in the exposed and unexposed groups, respectively (absolute rate difference 14.9 [95% CI, 12.5-17.3] per 10,000 PY). Compared to the unexposed group, the exposed group had an increased risk of ADHD (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.41 [95% CI, 1.30-1.52]). In addition, a longer duration of anesthesia with ETI and more general anesthesia procedures with ETI were associated with greater risk of ADHD. General anesthesia with ETI was also associated with poorer results in the K-ASQ., Conclusion: Administration of general anesthesia with ETI to children is associated with an increased risk of ADHD and poor results in a neurodevelopmental screening test., Competing Interests: The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose., (© 2023 The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences.)

Methylphenidate, which blocks the presynaptic norepinephrine and dopamine transporters, is the most common used medication and offered as first choice in the treatment guidelines of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). One of its rarely seen adverse effects is, hallucinations that can be formed idiosyncratically, which can be correlated with increased dopaminergic functioning in synaptic cleft. We will present an eight year old boy diagnosed with ADHD-combined type, and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) with no previous medical and family history who has impulsively taken extra dose of methylphenidate in the course of usual drug treatment. The acute hallucinosis presentation which has subsided the next day completely with the cessation of drug treatment will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) is commnest psychological disorders in children. This study was done to evaluate the effectiveness of rhythmic games on social skills of children with ADHD. Methods: In this quasi -experimental study with pretest, post test and follow up with control group, 30 boys student with ADHD were non-randomly divided into the two groups. Conners rating scale and social skills checklist were used. Results: Social skills significantly increased in ADHD students and this effectiveness continued in follow up stage (P<0.05). Conclusion: Play therapy is effective on social skills of children with ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is getting a lot of attention recently for two reasons. First, it is one of the most commonly found childhood disorders and second, the root cause of the problem is still unknown. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) data has become a popular tool for the analysis of ADHD, which is the focus of our current research. In this paper we propose a novel framework for the automatic classification of the ADHD subjects using their resting state fMRI (rs-fMRI) data of the brain. We construct brain functional connectivity networks for all the subjects. The nodes of the network are constructed with clusters of highly active voxels and edges between any pair of nodes represent the correlations between their average fMRI time series. The activity level of the voxels are measured based on the average power of their corresponding fMRI time-series. For each node of the networks, a local descriptor comprising of a set of attributes of the node is computed. Next, the Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS) technique is used to project all the subjects from the unknown graph-space to a low dimensional space based on their inter-graph distance measures. Finally, the Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier is used on the low dimensional projected space for automatic classification of the ADHD subjects. Exhaustive experimental validation of the proposed method is performed using the data set released for the ADHD-200 competition. Our method shows promise as we achieve impressive classification accuracies on the training (70.49%) and test data sets (73.55%). Our results reveal that the detection rates are higher when classification is performed separately on the male and female groups of subjects.

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is a common behavioral problem affecting children. In this work, we investigate the automatic classification of ADHD subjects using the resting state Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) sequences of the brain. We show that brain can be modeled as a functional network, and certain properties of the networks differ in ADHD subjects from control subjects. We compute the pairwise correlation of brain voxels' activity over the time frame of the experimental protocol which helps to model the function of a brain as a network. Different network features are computed for each of the voxels constructing the network. The concatenation of the network features of all the voxels in a brain serves as the feature vector. Feature vectors from a set of subjects are then used to train a PCA-LDA (principal component analysis-linear discriminant analysis) based classifier. We hypothesized that ADHD related differences lie in some specific regions of brain and using features only from those regions are sufficient to discriminate ADHD and control subjects. We propose a method to create a brain mask which includes the useful regions only and demonstrate that using the feature from the masked regions improves classification accuracy on the test data set. We train our classifier with 776 subjects, and test on 171 subjects provided by The Neuro Bureau for the ADHD-200 challenge. We demonstrate the utility of graph-motif features, specifically the maps that represent the frequency of participation of voxels in network cycles of length 3. The best classification performance (69.59%) is achieved using 3-cycle map features with masking. Our proposed approach holds promise in being able to diagnose and understand the disorder.

Introduction: Speech language outcomes are often variable in hearing impaired children managed with cochlear Implantation. Co-existing Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder may be responsible in some cases. Active management of these cases may result in improved outcomes in terms of better speech language acquisition. This study compared the progress in speech language acquisition in paediatric cochlear implant recipients with coexisting ADHD before and after intervention with Behaviour Modification Therapy (BMT) and /or pharmacological treatment. Materials and Methods: The study group was of 20 hearing impaired children post cochlear implant with co-existing ADHD who did not show expected results with regular AVT for 3 months post implant. Management of ADHD was instituted as per laid down protocol and CAP scores were compared at 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months post implantation. The scores obtained were subjected to a Wilcoxon sign rank test and P value derived. Results: The CAP scores after the inclusion of treatment for ADHD showed a definite improvement with a highly significant P value. Conclusions: Variables such as co-existent ADHD must be actively looked for in hearing impaired children prior to surgery and. Appropriate treatment in the form of BMT and / or medication should be instituted to improve the performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is getting a lot of attention recently for two reasons. First, it is one of the most commonly found childhood disorders and second, the root cause of the problem is still unknown. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) data has become a popular tool for the analysis of ADHD, which is the focus of our current research. In this paper we propose a novel framework for the automatic classification of the ADHD subjects using their resting state fMRI (rs-fMRI) data of the brain. We construct brain functional connectivity networks for all the subjects. The nodes of the network are constructed with clusters of highly active voxels and edges between any pair of nodes represent the correlations between their average fMRI time series. The activity level of the voxels are measured based on the average power of their corresponding fMRI time-series. For each node of the networks, a local descriptor comprising of a set of attributes of the node is computed. Next, the Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS) technique is used to project all the subjects from the unknown graph-space to a low dimensional space based on their inter-graph distance measures. Finally, the Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier is used on the low dimensional projected space for automatic classification of the ADHD subjects. Exhaustive experimental validation of the proposed method is performed using the data set released for the ADHD-200 competition. Our method shows promise as we achieve impressive classification accuracies on the training (70.49%) and test data sets (73.55%). Our results reveal that the detection rates are higher when classification is performed separately on the male and female groups of subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the strengths and limitations of existing data to provide guidance for the use of folate supplements as treatment, with or without other psychotropic medications, in various psychiatric disorders. To identify area for further research in terms of the biosynthesis of mechanism of folate and genetic variants in metabolic pathway in human. A systematic review of published literature following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, to assess whether folate supplements are beneficial in certain psychiatric disorders (depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). Methodology of this review is registered with Prospero (Registration number CRD 42021266605). Eligible studies were identified using a systematic search of four electronic databases: Embase, Pubmed, PsycINFO, and Cochrane. The search strategy covered the time period from 1974 to August 16th, 2021. Therefore, this review examines randomized control trials or open-label trials completed during this period. We identified 23 studies of folate supplements in various psychiatric disorders for critical review. Of these, 9 studies investigated the efficacy of folate supplements in major depressive disorders, 5 studies in schizophrenia, 6 studies in autism spectrum disorder, 2 studies in bipolar affective disorder and 1 study in attention deficit hyperactive disorder. The most consistent finding association of oral levomefolic acid or 5-methylfolate with improvement in clinical outcomes in mental health conditions as mentioned above, especially in major depressive disorder (including postpartum and post-menopausal depression), schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and bipolar affective disorder. Folate supplements were well tolerated. Our results are not representative of all types of studies such as case reports or case series studies, nor are they representative of the studies conducted in languages that are not in English or not translated in English. Increasing evidence from clinical trials consistently demonstrate folate supplements, especially levomefolic acid or 5-methylfolate, may improve clinical outcomes for certain psychiatric diseases, especially as an adjunct pharmacotherapy with minimal side effects. [Display omitted] • Folate supplements especially levomefolic acid (L-5-methylfolate) demonstrated improvement in clinical outcomes in certain mental health conditions, such as in major depressive disorder (including postpartum and post-menopausal depression), schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and bipolar affective disorder. Daily dosage range is 50 microgram to 15 mg orally daily depending on the clinical diagnosis and clinical presentation. • Levomefolic acid can be transported across the blood brain barrier (BBB) and reach the central nervous system to be used for neural transmitter synthesis without influenced by rate-limiting enzyme the Methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase in the metabolic pathway. • Levomefolic acid, the biological active form of folate can be used in food fortification instead of folic acid might be more effective for the general population as it is not affected by the Methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase polymorphism in the folate-mediated one-carbon cycle in human. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case report highlights the importance of pharmacogenetic testing in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). A 6-year-old boy diagnosed with ADHD was prescribed methylphenidate 5 mg twice daily (7 am and noon) and the family was compliant with administration of this medication. On the first day of treatment, the patient had an adverse reaction, becoming disobedient, more mischievous, erratic, resistant to discipline, would not go to sleep until midnight, and had a poor appetite. The All-In-One PGX (All-In-One Pharmacogenetics for Antipsychotics test for CYP2D6, CYP2C19, and CYP2C9) was performed using microarray-based and real-time polymerase chain reaction techniques. The genotype of our patient was identified to be CYP2D6*2/*10, with isoforms of the enzyme consistent with a predicted cytochrome P450 2D6 intermediate metabolizer phenotype. Consequently, the physician adjusted the methylphenidate dose to 2.5 mg once daily in the morning. At this dosage, the patient had a good response without any further adverse reactions. Pharmacogenetic testing should be included in the management plan for ADHD. In this case, cooperation between the medical team and the patients' relatives was key to successful treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is a common behavioral problem affecting children. In this work, we investigate the automatic classification of ADHD subjects using the resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sequences of the brain. We show that brain can be modeled as a functional network, and certain properties of the networks differ in ADHD subjects from control subjects. We compute the pairwise correlation of brain voxels' activity over the time frame of the experimental protocol which helps to model the function of a brain as a network. Different network features are computed for each of the voxels constructing the network. The concatenation of the network features of all the voxels in a brain serves as the feature vector. Feature vectors from a set of subjects are then used to train a PCA-LDA (principal component analysis-linear discriminant analysis) based classifier. We hypothesized that ADHD related differences lie in some specific regions of brain and using features only from those regions are sufficient to discriminate ADHD and control subjects. We propose a method to create a brain mask which includes the useful regions only and demonstrate that using the feature from the masked regions improves classification accuracy on the test data set. We train our classifier with 776 subjects, and test on 171 subjects provided by the Neuro Bureau for the ADHD-200 challenge. We demonstrate the utility of graph-motif features, specifically the maps that represent the frequency of participation of voxels in network cycles of length 3. The best classification performance (69.59%) is achieved using 3-cycle map features with masking. Our proposed approach holds promise in being able to diagnose and understand the disorderAttention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is a common behavioral problem affecting children. In this work, we investigate the automatic classification of ADHD subjects using the resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sequences of the brain. We show that brain can be modeled as a functional network, and certain properties of the networks differ in ADHD subjects from control subjects. We compute the pairwise correlation of brain voxels' activity over the time frame of the experimental protocol which helps to model the function of a brain as a network. Different network features are computed for each of the voxels constructing the network. The concatenation of the network features of all the voxels in a brain serves as the feature vector. Feature vectors from a set of subjects are then used to train a PCA-LDA (principal component analysis-linear discriminant analysis) based classifier. We hypothesized that ADHD related differences lie in some specific regions of brain and using features only from those regions are sufficient to discriminate ADHD and control subjects. We propose a method to create a brain mask which includes the useful regions only and demonstrate that using the feature from the masked regions improves classification accuracy on the test data set. We train our classifier with 776 subjects, and test on 171 subjects provided by the Neuro Bureau for the ADHD-200 challenge. We demonstrate the utility of graph-motif features, specifically the maps that represent the frequency of participation of voxels in network cycles of length 3. The best classification performance (69.59%) is achieved using 3-cycle map features with masking. Our proposed approach holds promise in being able to diagnose and understand the disorder [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To assess possible correlations between intelligence quotient (IQ) and attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) rating scale values and sleep (including cyclic alternating patterns analysis) and respiratory parameters in children with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). Methods: Thirteen children who satisfied the criteria for primary snoring and 31 children for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) underwent polysomnography in a standard laboratory setting and a neurocognitive assessment. Sixty normal controls recruited from two schools underwent the neurocognitive assessment. Results: The IQ estimates of controls were higher and the ADHD rating scale scores lower than those of children with SDB. Children with OSAS had a higher REM sleep latency and arousal index as well as a lower N3 and A mean duration than children who snored. In our sample of children with SDB, the percentage of wakefulness after sleep onset, of N1, of A2, of arousal and A2 index correlated positively with global intelligence. Total and hyperactivity scores correlated positively with the A2 index. Regression analysis mostly confirmed the correlations between neurocognitive measures and sleep parameters and further demonstrated a negative correlation between the hyperactivity rating score and oxygen saturation during the night. Conclusions: Our results support the hypothesis that arousal is a defensive mechanism that may preserve cognitive function by counteracting the respiratory events, at the expense of sleep maintenance and NREM sleep instability. Significance: We believe that our study makes an interesting contribution to research on the relationship between sleep fragmentation and cognitive function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, there has been a growing interest in better understanding of the adult-type attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). It is now accepted that many children with ADHD continue to have symptoms later in life, although the characteristics of the disease may change substantially in adults. Data are emerging on ADHD in midlife and old age and some studies analyze gender differences and co-morbidities during the lifespan of ADHD patients. This short communication discusses the possible resemblance of certain menopausal symptoms and those of adult ADHD and the potential contribution of the female hormonal environment. Further, there might be a promising role for psychostimulants, the mainstay of ADHD management, as treatment of impairment of some executive function domains in menopausal women. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

• Variation in amplitude and phase of frequency component taken from SSEP is measured. • We fitted the Fourier estimates using an ellipse instead of a circle. • Covariance to eigenvectors conversion yields the ellipse parameters. • The ellipse Length-Width difference reveals meaningful fluctuations in brain response. • The Angle of the ellipse estimates the correlation between the amplitude and phase. The intra-individual variability of steady-state evoked potential (SS-EP) recordings reveals unique individual behavioral capabilities in neuroscience experiments and individual attention deficit in clinical studies. In this paper, we show how to measure the intra-individual variability in both amplitude and phase of frequency component. To estimate the variability, multiple Fourier measurements at a frequency component using a non-overlapping moving time window are extracted from SS-EP data and represented in the two-dimensional complex plane. In contrast to the common approach to fit the Fourier estimates with a circle based on the assumption that the brain response is stable over time, our approach based on the reasonable assumption of fluctuating attention is to fit the samples using an ellipse with three new parameters: Length, Width, and Angle of the ellipse. We believe that attention fluctuations can produce a significant Length-Width difference (LW-Diff). We applied our method to simulations to demonstrate validity. If the LW-Diff is significant using standard error of standard deviation, the cluster of Fourier estimates is non-circular in the complex plane. In such cases, we assume the maximum variation corresponds to a meaningful fluctuation in brain response presumably as a function of attention. Our method enables us, for the first time, to estimate individual attention fluctuation using the Length-to-Width Ratio and to test whether Fourier measurements distribute circularly in the complex plane. The method is useful for distinguishing individuals with different behavioral capabilities, differentiating cases with inconsistent control of attention from healthy subjects, and monitoring therapeutic interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: Quantitative measures of pre-attentional, attentional and frontal lobe processes were compared to evaluate quantitative measures of these deficits in Ex-Preterm vs. Ex-Term adolescents. Methods: We compared 43 Ex-Preterm with 26 Ex-Term adolescents using the P50 auditory potential, the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT), a reaction time (RT) test, and Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS). Results: The mean amplitude (±SE) of the P50 amplitude was similar in the Ex-Preterm (1.8±1.4μV) vs. Ex-Term adolescents (1.8±0.6μV, df=68, F =0.05, p =0.8), but the Ex-Preterm group showed a trimodal distribution in amplitude (High, 3.3±0.4μV, df=42.25, F =19.2, p <0.01; Medium, 1.7±0.1μV, df=39, F =0.41, p =0.53; Low, 0.7±0.1μV, df=40, F =49.5, p <0.01) suggested by statistically significant variance between populations (Kolmogorov–Kuiper test, df=42.25, F =5.4, p <0.01). Mean RT was longer in Ex-Preterm (250±8ms) vs. Ex-Term subjects (200±5ms, df=68, F =18.8, p <0.001). PVT lapses were increased in Ex-Preterm subjects, and varied inversely with P50 amplitude (Overall Mean 17±5 lapses, df=67, F =5.34, p <0.05; Low P50 amplitude, 25±10, df=40, F =8.8, p <0.01; Medium, 21±11, df=38, F =5.37, p <0.05; High, 6±2, df=39, F =6.78, p <0.01) vs. Ex-Term subjects (2±0.4 lapses, p <0.01). NIRS levels did not differ statistically, but tended to correlate with P50 amplitude in the Ex-Preterm group. Conclusions: These findings suggest differential pre-attentional, attentional and frontal lobe dysfunction in Ex-Preterm adolescents. Significance: These measures could provide a means to objectively assess differential dysregulation of arousal and attention in Ex-Preterm adolescents, allowing optimization of therapeutic designs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We investigated the relationship of child attachment representation, psychopathology, and maternal atypical parenting in a high risk sample. Sixty-one consecutive clinical referrals with externalizing disorder aged 4 - 9 years were assessed for attachment representations measured with Manchester Child Attachment Story Task (MCAST), atypical parental expressed emotion (EE), maternal mood, and parent and teacher ratings of child behaviour. Disorganized attachment representations were found in 58% of cases, independent of ADHD symptoms. Pervasive disorganization was associated with very high maternal EE. Attachment status, maternal depression, and ADHD diagnosis were independently associated with parent-rated child behaviour problems; teacher ratings were associated with child's age and ADHD status. Disorganized attachment shows a high prevalence and independent associations with attention deficit symptomatology and maternal EE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: A growing body of research in neuroscience points to the impact of variations in maternal nurturing on child development and provides a rationale for interventions that target stress adaptation conditioning through natural family nurturing. This pilot study was collected within the course of private practice to assess the progress of children with severe behavioral disorders who were treated effectively with a multiple family therapy prototype, Prolonged Parent–Child Embrace (PPCE) Therapy. Subjects were a consecutive series of 102 patient children aged 4–18 years and their families. Children and their family members were guided for 16h over two consecutive days through intense PPCE Therapy. Families were instructed to continue PPCE Therapy at home for at least 1 year. Scores were compared statistically using t-tests and analysis of variance. For 96 children scores declined on two written measures by approximately 50% between baseline and follow-up (P<0.001). Results showed that PPCE Therapy resulted in significant and prolonged improvements in symptomatic behavior in a majority of children. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose: To determine whether children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) or attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) exhibit neurobehavioral regressive changes during pollen seasons. Design: A behavioral questionnaire-based survey, with results matched to pollen counts; an uncontrolled, open non-intervention study. Materials and Methods: Twenty-nine children identified with ASD and 18 children with ADHD comprised the study population. The parents of the study children completed the Allergic Symptom Screen for 2 weeks during the winter prior to the pollen allergy season under investigation. The parents of the ASD children also completed the Aberrant Behavior Checklist and the parents of the ADHD children completed Conners' Revised Parent Short Form for the same periods. The parents completed the respective forms weekly from 1 March to 31 October 2002. Pollen counts from the geographical area of study were recorded on a daily basis during this period. Results: During natural pollen exposure, 15 of 29 (52%) children with ASD and 10 of 18 (56%) children with ADHD demonstrated neurobehavioral regression. There was no correlation with the child's allergic status (IgE, skin tests and RAST) or allergy symptoms. Conclusions: Pollen exposure can produce neurobehavioral regression in the majority of children with ASD or ADHD on a non-IgE-mediated mechanism. Psychological dysfunction can be potentiated by environmental exposures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little has been written about attention-deficit hyperactive disorder from a family systems perspective. The authors describe the impact of this neurologically based disorder on family functioning and explore the utility of systems theory in addressing families' needs. Suggestions for widening the levels of intervention beyond traditional treatment parameters are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• First study to report on automated classification of ADHD, CD and ADHD+CD EEG signals. • EMD and DWT transform methods are used. • Various nonlinear features are extracted from decomposed coefficients. • Classification accuracy of 97.88% is obtained using KNN classifier on 123 participants. • Developed system can aid clinicians in their diagnosis of ADHD and/or CD. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is often presented with conduct disorder (CD). There is currently no objective laboratory test or diagnostic method to discern between ADHD and CD, and diagnosis is further made difficult as ADHD is a common neuro-developmental disorder often presenting with other co-morbid difficulties; and in particular with conduct disorder which has a high degree of associated behavioural challenges. A novel automated system (AS) is proposed as a convenient supplementary tool to support clinicians in their diagnostic decisions. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first group to develop an automated classification system to classify ADHD, CD and ADHD+CD classes using brain signals. The empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and discrete wavelet transform (DWT) methods were employed to decompose the electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. Autoregressive modelling coefficients and relative wavelet energy were then computed on the signals. Various nonlinear features were extracted from the decomposed coefficients. Adaptive synthetic sampling (ADASYN) was then employed to balance the dataset. The significant features were selected using sequential forward selection method. The highly discriminatory features were subsequently fed to an array of classifiers. The highest accuracy of 97.88% was achieved with the K-Nearest Neighbour (KNN) classifier. The proposed system was developed using ten-fold validation strategy on EEG data from 123 children. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study to develop an AS for the classification of ADHD, CD and ADHD+CD classes using EEG signals. Our AS can potentially be used as a web-based application with cloud system to aid the clinical diagnosis of ADHD and/or CD, thus supporting faster and accurate treatment for the children. It is important to note that testing with larger data is required before the AS can be employed for clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heightened sensitivity to sensory information has been associated with food fussiness in both atypical and typical development. Despite food fussiness and sensory dysfunction being reported as common concerns for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, the relationship that exists between them, and whether they differ between disorders, has yet to be established. The current study aimed to examine sensory sensitivity as a predictor of food fussiness in three different neurodevelopmental disorders, whilst controlling for comorbidity amongst these disorders. Ninety-eight caregivers of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD; n = 17), Tourette Syndrome (TS; n = 27), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD; n = 27), and typical development (TD; n = 27) were compared using parental reports of child food fussiness, food preferences and sensory sensitivity. Children with neurodevelopmental disorders were reported to have significantly higher levels of both food fussiness and sensory sensitivity, with children with ASD and TS also showing significantly less preference for fruit than children with TD. Importantly, higher levels of taste/smell sensitivity predicted food fussiness for all four groups of children. In addition, taste/smell sensitivity fully mediated the differences in food fussiness between each group of neurodevelopmental disorders compared to the TD group. The findings highlight that food fussiness is similar across these neurodevelopmental disorders despite accounting for comorbidity, and that greater sensitivity to taste/smell may explain why children with neurodevelopmental disorders are more likely to be fussy eaters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: COVID-19 may deteriorate some aspects among individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Although some positive aspects were reported during the pandemic, it remains unclear how COVID-19 qualitatively influences their living context; (2) Methods: this study employed interviews with four participants with ADHD during the declaration of emergency issued in Japan. The study was a part of ongoing coaching as a psychosocial intervention for ADHD, which was initiated long before the pandemic. The data were the answers to the question: "how are things going with participants during this pandemic?". In a qualitative analysis, the researchers coded the data to identify different themes and sub-themes; (3) Results and Discussion: the qualitative data analysis yielded five themes: (1) Terrible feeling caused by frustration, stress, and anger; (2) Closeness due to the internal difficulties and conflict; (3) Deteriorating ADHD symptoms and executive function related matters; (4) Condition is the same as usual; and (5) Positive aspects associated with the self-lockdown. As a whole, these results show that the COVID-19 pandemic could be a factor in inducing psychological distress in the participants who adjust relatively better at work/school but did not do well at home before the pandemic; (4) Conclusions: this study indicates the need for special support for individuals with ADHD, especially those who originally had difficulties at home.

L-glutamate is the chief excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system (CNS) which activates metabotropic receptors including the metabotropic glutamate receptor GRM7. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within GRM7 gene have been associated with several psychiatric conditions. In the present study, we assessed association between two GRM7 SNPs (rs6782011 and rs779867) and two neuropsychiatric disorders including attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and mood disorders. There were no significant differences in genotype, allele and haplotypes frequencies of the rs6782011 and rs779867 between bipolar disorder 1 (BPD1) patients and controls. The CC genotype of the rs6782011 was significantly associated with BPD2 in recessive model (OR (95% CI) = 1.78 (1.09–2.91), adjusted P value = 0.04) and with ADHD in dominant and co-dominant models (OR (95% CI) = 1.98 (1.11–3.53), adjusted P value = 0.04; OR (95% CI) = 2.27 (1.23–4.17), adjusted P value = 0.04 respectively). The C G haplotype (rs6782011 and rs779867 respectively) was more prevalent among both BPD2 patients (OR (95%CI) = 2.03 (1.36–3.01), adjusted P value = 0.002) and MDD patients (OR (95%CI) = 2.08 (1.37–3.16), adjusted P value = 0.002) compared with controls. The current study provides further evidences for participation of GRM7 variants in conferring risk of neuropsychiatric disorders. • We assessed association between two GRM7 SNPs (rs6782011 and rs779867) and two neuropsychiatric disorders including ADHD and mood disorders. • There were no significant differences in genotype, allele and haplotypes frequencies of the rs6782011 and rs779867 between BPD1 patients and controls. • The CC genotype of the rs6782011 was significantly associated with BPD2 in recessive model. • The CC genotype of the rs6782011 was significantly associated with ADHD in dominant and co-dominant models. • The current study provides further evidences for participation of GRM7 variants in conferring risk of neuropsychiatric disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]