Inhibition & Sustained Attention

Lab Experiment 4

What is inhibition?
The act of withholding a prepotent response Sets up a race paradigm between the Go process (tapping your desk) and the NoGo process The time between the presentation of a beep that coincides with an or results in a build-up of the expectation to respond

What happened for you?

Did you ever tap your desk when there was a beep?
Commission error

Did you ever fail to press a key when an or appeared without a beep?
Omission error

How did the time between beeps function within the activity?
Was it harder to stop yourself from pressing a key when there was a longer delay between beeps?

What is sustained attention?

Ability to maintain behavioral responses during a repetitive and continuous activity

What have you noticed with your sustained attention experiment?

When was your optimal performance?

Did you notice performance changing as you continued the Stop Signal Task?

What is ADHD?
Affects 4-10% of children (Barkley, 1998; Froehlich et al., 2007) Higher ratio of males diagnosed

Children with ADHD may have an 80% chance of having at least one other disorder
ex., Learning Disorder, Oppositional defiant disorder, Developmental Coordination Disorder

ADHD: Pattern of symptoms

Characterized by developmentally inappropriate levels of:
Inattention Hyperactivity/Impulsivity

Inattention
Fails to give close attention to details/make careless mistakes. Difficulty sustaining attention. Does not seem to listen. Lack of follow through. Difficulty organizing tasks and activities. Avoids/dislikes tasks requiring sustained mental effort. Loses things. Easily distracted. Forgetful.

Hyperactivity
Fidgets with hands or feet. Difficulty remaining seated. Runs about/climbs excessively. Difficulty playing quietly. On the go. Driven by a motor. Talks excessively. Blurts out answers before questions are asked. Difficulty awaiting turn. Interrupts or intrudes on others.

Associated difficulties with ADHD

Impaired academic performance Increased social rejection Increased family discord Poor achievement motivation Increased risk of substance abuse Increased risk of risky sexual activity

Which cognitive processes may be impaired for individuals with ADHD?

Sustained Attention
Could be associated with inattentive symptoms

Inhibition
Could be associated with impulsivity/hyperactivity symptoms

Other cognitive processes?

Working Memory Set-Shifting Planning

Inhibition & ADHD

Children with ADHD have more difficulty than comparison children based on:
More commission errors More omission errors Greater inter-trial variability

Sustained attention & ADHD

Cognitive performance
Children with ADHD have worse cognitive performance than comparison children as time on a task increases (Houghton et al., 2004)

Movement
Children with ADHD move more than comparison children only at the end of the school day (Tsuili et al., 2007)

Benefits of brain activity research

EEG measures the background electrical activity in the brain Allows examination of neurofunctional processes Special interest in the amplitude of brain activity
Peak of the wave Indicates use of cognitive resources

Brain activity: Sustained attention & Inhibition

Sustained attention is associated with a waveform called the P100 Inhibition is associated with a waveform called the N200

 Successful inhibition Anterior region of the brain

Example of brain activity and inhibition

Pink = Comparison children Purple = Children with ADHD

(Pliszka et al., 2007)

 Failed inhibition Posterior region of the brain

Example of brain activity & inhibition

Pink = Comparison children Purple = Children with ADHD

(Pliszka et al., 2007)

What does the brain activity indicate?

Findings suggest a primary deficit of inhibition for children with ADHD Appears likely that deficits in sustained attention may appear in relation to deficits in other cognitive processes

Possible strengths of ADHD

Multi-tasking Creativity
Problems with inhibition may allow for:
outside the box thinking Unique displays of art