1. Postural control among children with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in single and dual conditions
- Author
-
Lars I. E. Oddsson, Talia Jacobi-Polishook, Zamir Shorer, Itshak Melzer, and Boaz Becker
- Subjects
Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,genetic structures ,Automaticity ,Audiology ,behavioral disciplines and activities ,Postural control ,Center of pressure (terrestrial locomotion) ,Task Performance and Analysis ,medicine ,Postural Balance ,Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ,Humans ,Force platform ,Child ,Balance (ability) ,business.industry ,Cognition ,medicine.disease ,Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity ,Case-Control Studies ,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health ,Female ,business ,psychological phenomena and processes - Abstract
Given the known deficits in attention in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the evidence suggesting that postural control requires attention, this study aimed to investigate the mechanisms of postural control of children with and without ADHD in single-(ST) and dual-task (DT) conditions. Postural sway and stabilogram diffusion analysis (SDA) were performed on the Center of Pressure trajectories on 24 ADHD children and 17 age-gender- matched healthy controls. The subjects were instructed to stand as stable as possible on a force platform in two task conditions: (1) single task (ST) and (2) dual task (DT)—an auditory-memory attention-demanding cognitive task. During ST and DT conditions, the ADHD children showed signifi- cantly greater ML-sway, short- and long-term effective diffu- sion coefficients, and critical displacement of SDA compared with controls. The effects of DT were somewhat unexpected; the control group indicated a significantdecreaseinML-sway, AP-sway, sway area, and critical displacement of SDA; the ADHD group showed a significant decrease in ML-sway range and critical displacement. It is concluded that a greater sway displacement before closed-loop mechanisms is called into play in ADHD children. The DT enhanced balance con- trol by reinforcing balance automaticity and minimizing sway in both healthy and ADHD children.
- Published
- 2011