A Study Of Executive Function And Biological Motion Perception In Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Background Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD)is a developmental disorder and shows a prevalence of about 5.9~7.1% in the general population.It is characterized by inattention,impulsivity and hyperactivity.These patients often experience greater risk of poor school performance(for children)and social problems(for adults).As to their cognition,executive function have received widespread concern from many scholars.As a social animal,it is very important to recognize other individuals and understand their purpose and intention in various social activities.Up to date,impairments in anger and fear were often reported but it isn't clear whether Biological motion perception were affected.Objective 1,To explore characteristics of executive function(EF)in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD).2,To investigate whether the ability of biological motion perception were declined in children with ADHD.Methods Study 1: A total of 56 children with ADHD and 50 normal controls matched on age and intelligence to the ADHD group completed the attention network test(ANT),digital span(DS)and color trail test(CTT).Study 2: A duration discrimination task was operated by forty-six children with ADHD and forty-six matched health controls(HCs).Results Study 1: Significant group differences were found in regulation of conflict network[90.57 ± 55.95 ms vs70.66 ± 11.24 ms,P=0.015].ADHD group performed worse in the aspects of reverse digit span and CTT ?,and the differences were significant(P<0.05).Study 2:The point of subjective equality(PSE)was negative value(-0.30±0.35)for health controls(HCs),and there was a significant difference compared with“PSE=0”by one sample t test(t=-5.83,P <0.05).Compared with HCs,the PSE for ADHD was positive vaule(0.06±0.63),and significantly increased(P<0.05).Conclusion The results confirm that there were deficits of executive function in ADHD.The children with ADHD also have an impairment of biological motion perception.