Topography of sleep slow wave activity in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

• Published in: Cortex 2013-01, Vol.49 (1), p.340-347
• Main Authors: Ringli, Maya, Souissi, Soraya, Kurth, Salomé, Brandeis, Daniel, Jenni, Oskar G., Huber, Reto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ADHD; Adolescent; Adolescents; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - physiopathology; Attention deficit disorders. Hyperactivity; Biological and medical sciences; Cerebral Cortex - physiopathology; Child; Child clinical studies; Development; Electroencephalography; Female; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; Neuromaturational delay; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Sleep - physiology; Sleep EEG
• ISSN: 0010-9452; 1973-8102
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2012.07.007

Sleep slow wave activity (SWA, EEG power between 1 and 4.5 Hz) is a major characteristic of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, which seems to be critically involved in cortical plasticity. Studies using high-density electroencephalography (hd-EEG) showed that the topographical distribution of SWA mirrors cortical maturation, expressing a local maximum that is characteristic for a certain age range. We compared the sleep EEG of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with healthy controls to explore differences in sleep SWA. All-night hd-EEG recordings (128 electrodes) were performed in a group of nine children diagnosed with ADHD and nine age- and sex-matched healthy controls. SWA topography was calculated and contrasted between the groups. We found a local increase of SWA in a cluster of six electrodes over central regions in children with ADHD compared to control children (+17% ± 6% SE, p