Citation

Pitzianti M, D'Agati E, Casarelli L, Pontis M, Kaunzinger I, Lange KW, Tucha O, Curatolo P, Pasini A. Cogn. Neuropsychiatry 2016; 21(6): 475-493.

Affiliation

Department of Systems Medicine, Unit of Child Neurology and Psychiatry , "Tor Vergata" University of Rome , Rome , Italy.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13546805.2016.1235029

PMID

27690748

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Inattention is one of the core symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Most of patients with ADHD show motor impairment, consisting in the persistence of neurological soft signs (NSS). Our aim was to evaluate attentional and motor functioning in an ADHD sample and healthy children (HC) and possible link between attentional dysfunction and motor impairment in ADHD.

METHOD: Twenty-seven drug-naive patients with ADHD and 23 HC were tested with a test battery, measuring different aspects of attention. Motor evaluation has provided three primary variables: overflow movements (OM), dysrhythmia and total speed of timed activities.

RESULTS: Compared to HC, patients were impaired in a considerable number of attentional processes and showed a greater number of NSS. Significant correlations between disturbances of attention and motor abnormalities were observed in ADHD group.

CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that attentional processes could be involved in the pathophysiology of the NSS and add scientific evidence to the predictive value of NSS as indicators of the severity of functional impairment in ADHD. Given the marked improvement or complete resolution of NSS following treatment with methylphenidate, we suggest that evaluation of NSS is useful to monitor the effectiveness of pharmacological treatment with MPH in ADHD.

Language: en