Neural Mechanisms of Attention Lapses in Adult ADHD

NCT ID: NCT03948607

Last Updated: 2023-04-18

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Total Enrollment: 63 participants
• Study Classification: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2019-09-10
• Study Completion Date: 2021-05-05

Brief Summary

ADHD is a common disorder, leading to a significant disability that often persists in adulthood. ADHD is characterized by attentional disturbances that are difficult to asses with standard neuropsychological tests.

Attention tends to stall after a certain time of fatigue (i.e. an attention lapse). The aim of this study is to study the electroencephalographic (EEG) characteristics of these attention lapses in a sustained attention task, comparing ADHD patients with healthy subjects.

Detailed Description

The main goal is to assess with EEG the timing of the attentional demobilization that precedes a sustained attention lapse in patients with ADHD.

The secondary objectives are: 1 / To analyze impaired cognitive control mechanisms during lapses in patients with ADHD; 2 / Study the relationships between the deficits identified through EEG recording, clinical evaluations, and the subjective perception of daily difficulties; 3 / To measure the impact of the subjective attention state on the neuronal precursors of the attentional lapses; 4 / Evaluate the relation between propensity to wandering mind and attentional lapses.

Conditions

Attention Deficit Disorder; Hyperactivity Disorder

Study Design

• Observational Model Type: CASE_CONTROL
• Study Time Perspective: CROSS_SECTIONAL

Study Groups

Adult ADHD

Adult ADHD patients without current comorbidity and treatment.

Electroencephalography during sustained attention task.

Intervention Type: OTHER

The Continuous Temporal Expectancy Task (CTET) (O'Connell et al., 2009) is a very demanding discrimination task with sustained attention. It consists of the presentation on a computer screen of a visual pattern resembling a checkerboard that changes orientation at regular intervals of time. In this task the subject must respond (pressing a response button) to the appearance of rare target stimuli that have a longer duration (1120 ms) than non-target stimuli (800 ms).

SART (Sustained Attention to Response Task) (Robertson et al., 1997) is a task of inhibition (Go / No-Go task) to evaluate the capacities of sustained attention. It consists in the successive and random presentation on a computer screen of the numbers from 1 to 9. In this task the subject must respond, by pressing a response button, to the appearance of all the numbers (very non-target stimuli frequent), with the exception of the number "3".

Healthy controls

Healthy controls without ADH, paired in age and gender.

Electroencephalography during sustained attention task.

Intervention Type: OTHER

The Continuous Temporal Expectancy Task (CTET) (O'Connell et al., 2009) is a very demanding discrimination task with sustained attention. It consists of the presentation on a computer screen of a visual pattern resembling a checkerboard that changes orientation at regular intervals of time. In this task the subject must respond (pressing a response button) to the appearance of rare target stimuli that have a longer duration (1120 ms) than non-target stimuli (800 ms).

SART (Sustained Attention to Response Task) (Robertson et al., 1997) is a task of inhibition (Go / No-Go task) to evaluate the capacities of sustained attention. It consists in the successive and random presentation on a computer screen of the numbers from 1 to 9. In this task the subject must respond, by pressing a response button, to the appearance of all the numbers (very non-target stimuli frequent), with the exception of the number "3".

Interventions

Electroencephalography during sustained attention task.

The Continuous Temporal Expectancy Task (CTET) (O'Connell et al., 2009) is a very demanding discrimination task with sustained attention. It consists of the presentation on a computer screen of a visual pattern resembling a checkerboard that changes orientation at regular intervals of time. In this task the subject must respond (pressing a response button) to the appearance of rare target stimuli that have a longer duration (1120 ms) than non-target stimuli (800 ms).

SART (Sustained Attention to Response Task) (Robertson et al., 1997) is a task of inhibition (Go / No-Go task) to evaluate the capacities of sustained attention. It consists in the successive and random presentation on a computer screen of the numbers from 1 to 9. In this task the subject must respond, by pressing a response button, to the appearance of all the numbers (very non-target stimuli frequent), with the exception of the number "3".

Intervention Type: OTHER

Other Intervention Names

CTET (Continuous Temporal Expectancy Task); SART (Sustained Attention to Response Task)

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Diagnosis of ADHD according to DSM-5 criteria by a psychiatrist with clinical experience with ADHD
• aged 18 to 60
• having signed an informed consent
• able to understand the objectives and the risks related to the research

For Healthy controls

• Absence of psychiatric disorder or neurological disease
• Matched in sex, age (± 2 years) and level of study (± 2 years) to each ADHD patient

Exclusion Criteria

• treatment by Methylphenidate or amphetamine in the 3 months preceding the study
• treatment by a psychotropic drug other than antidepressant SSRI: anti-depressant non-SSRI, antipsychotic, mood stabilizer, benzodiazepine or hypnotic daily intake
• neurological pathology or neurological sequelae
• history of head trauma with loss of consciousness of more than 15 minutes
• Subject under the protection of justice
• Subject under guardianship, curatorship
• Subject in exclusion period (determined by previous or current study),
• Impossibility to give the subject enlightened information (subject in emergency situation, difficulties of comprehension of the subject (for example mental retardation, illiteracy, subject not including French ...)

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 60 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

University Hospital, Strasbourg, France

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Sébastien WEIBEL

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg

Locations

Hôpital Civil - service de Psychiatrie 2

Strasbourg, , France

Countries

France

Other Identifiers

7248

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id