Right Hemisphere Dysfunction in ADHD: Visual Hemispatial Inattention and Clinical Subtype

• Published in: Journal of learning disabilities 2000-01, Vol.33 (1), p.83-90
• Main Authors: Sandson, Thomas A., Bachna, Kristie J., Morin, Mark D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Adults; Antidepressants; Archives & records; Attention; Attention deficit disorder; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - physiopathology; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - psychology; Attention Deficit Disorders; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Biological and medical sciences; Brain Hemisphere Functions; Brain laterality; Case-Control Studies; Cerebral Cortex - pathology; Cerebral Cortex - physiology; Cognition; Control Groups; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Disability; Drugs; Dysfunction; Educational Status; Executive function; Families & family life; Family medical history; Female; Functional Laterality; Humans; Hyperactivity; Intelligence tests; Learning disabilities; Male; Medical imaging; Medical sciences; Memory; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Neurological Impairments; Neurology; Neuropsychological assessment; Neuropsychology; Neurosurgery; Patients; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychometrics; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Random Allocation; Relationship; Space Perception; Special education; Studies; Verbal memory; Visual Perception
• ISSN: 0022-2194; 1538-4780
• DOI: 10.1177/002221940003300111

The relationship between right hemisphere dysfunction and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) remains controversial. We administered a random letter cancellation test to 58 carefully selected adult patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for ADHD and 29 age- and education-matched controls. Patients with ADHD had a higher mean omission rate on the left side than the controls, and a greater percentage of ADHD patients than controls made more omissions on the left than on the right (L > R errors). ADHD patients who made L > R errors had lower performance IQ scores than ADHD patients who did not make L > R errors. However, ADHD patients who made L > R errors did not differ from ADHD patients who did not make L > R errors in ADHD subtype, medication response, or neuropsychological measures of attention, executive function, verbal memory, nonverbal memory, or academic achievement. Patients without a family history of ADHD were more likely to make L > R errors than patients with a family history of ADHD. This study provides support for the concept of right hemisphere dysfunction in a subset of patients with ADHD. However, ADHD patients who make L > R errors do not appear to represent a distinct clinical subgroup in terms of medication response, ADHD subtype, or neuropsychological test performance.