Abstract
-
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) is a common
psychiatric disorder of childhood that continues to affect many
people as adults. At present it is not possible to determine in
childhood who will have the disorder as an adult. The aim of
this study was to determine whether EEG coherence differences
exist between children who outgrow the disorder and
those who continue to be symptomatic as adults.
Pre-treatment EEGs were recorded during an eyes-closed resting
condition from 38 boys diagnosed with AD/HD and 38 agematched
control subjects. Coherence was calculated for 8 intrahemispheric
electrode pairs (4 in each hemisphere), and 8 in -
terhemispheric electrode pairs, within each of the delta, theta,
alpha and beta bands. A second assessment was performed on
the AD/HD subjects 11 years after the initial assessment to
determine whether subjects met criteria for adult AD/HD.
Across the entire AD/HD sample, increased frontal delta and
theta coherences were found compared with controls. Both
inter hemispheric and intrahemispheric coherence differences
were found in the delta and theta bands between those who
outgrew the disorder and these who continued to have AD/HD
as adults.
Increased frontal delta and theta coherences appear to be the
most reliable coherence markers of childhood AD/HD. Children
who later outgrow the disorder have coherence anomalies different
from those who continue to have AD/HD as adults. These
results suggest that coherence measures might serve as
a mar ker that can be used clinically in childhood to predict adult
AD/HD.