A preliminary study on the attentional networks of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

To investigate the efficiency of the three attentional networks in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).Subjects were 25 children, aged 7 to 12 years, with DSM-IV ADHD and 25 non-ADHD controls matched by age, sex and IQ. Attentional networks tests were performed in all the subjects on an IBM compatible computer.No differences were found between the ADHD children and the normal controls in alerting and orienting effects. However, ADHD children had a significantly larger executive control effect than their normal counterparts. The general accuracy of the ADHD children was significantly lower than that of the normal controls.ADHD children may have impairments in their executive control network of attention.PubMed04370-33