Diminished modulation of preparatory sensorimotor mu rhythm predicts attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder severity

• Published in: Psychological medicine 2017-08, Vol.47 (11), p.1947-1956
• Main Authors: ter Huurne, N., Lozano-Soldevilla, D., Onnink, M., Kan, C., Buitelaar, J., Jensen, O.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adults; Anticipation, Psychological - physiology; Attention - physiology; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - physiopathology; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Attention task; Brain activity; Brain Waves - physiology; Child & adolescent psychiatry; Cortex; Distributing; Female; Hemispheric laterality; Humans; Hyperactivity; Hypotheses; Impulsive behavior; Impulsivity; Inhibition (Psychology); Intelligence; Lateralization; Magnetoencephalography; Male; Motor activity; Motor task performance; Neurosciences; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Original Articles; Oscillations; Power; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Reaction time; Reaction time task; Research subjects; Rhythm; Sensorimotor Cortex - physiopathology; Severity; Severity of Illness Index; Somatosensory cortex; Space Perception - physiology; Spatial attention; Spatial distribution; Variability; Visual Perception - physiology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0033-2917; 1469-8978
• DOI: 10.1017/S0033291717000332

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by problems in regulating attention and in suppressing disruptive motor activity, i.e. hyperactivity and impulsivity. We recently found evidence that aberrant distribution of posterior α band oscillations (8-12 Hz) is associated with attentional problems in ADHD. The sensorimotor cortex also produces strong 8-12 Hz band oscillations, namely the μ rhythm, and is thought to have a similar inhibitory function. Here, we now investigate whether problems in distributing α band oscillations in ADHD generalize to the μ rhythm in the sensorimotor domain. In a group of adult ADHD (n = 17) and healthy control subjects (n = 18; aged 21-40 years) oscillatory brain activity was recorded using magnetoencephalography during a visuo-spatial attention task. Subjects had to anticipate a target with unpredictable timing and respond by pressing a button. Preparing a motor response, the ADHD group failed to increase hemispheric μ lateralization with relatively higher μ power in sensorimotor regions not engaged in the task, as the controls did (F 1,33 = 8.70, p = 0.006). Moreover, the ADHD group pre-response μ lateralization not only correlated positively with accuracy (r s = 0.64, p = 0.0052) and negatively with intra-individual reaction time variability (r s = -0.52, p = 0.033), but it also correlated negatively with the score on an ADHD rating scale (r s = -0.53, p = 0.028). We suggest that ADHD is associated with an inability to sufficiently inhibit task-irrelevant sensorimotor areas by means of modulating μ oscillatory activity. This could explain disruptive motor activity in ADHD. These results provide further evidence that impaired modulation of α band oscillations is involved in the pathogenesis of ADHD.