Abnormal early stages of task stimulus processing in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder – evidence from event-related gamma oscillations

Objectives: Attention-related differences in early stages of stimulus processing were assessed in healthy controls and children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by analyzing phase-locked gamma band (31–63 Hz) responses to auditory stimuli in a selective-attention task. Methods: A total of 28 children aged 9–12 years (ADHD and matched healthy controls) pressed a button in response to each target stimulus presented at the attended side (right or left). Auditory gamma band responses (GBRs) within 0–120 ms were analyzed at 8 electrodes with wavelet transform. Effects of attended channel, stimulus type, and group were evaluated for GBR power and phase-locking. Results: For both groups, GBRs had a frontal-central distribution, were significantly larger and more strongly phase-locked to target than to non-target stimuli, and did not differentiate the attended from the unattended channel. ADHD children produced larger and more strongly phase-locked GBRs than controls only to right-side stimuli, irrespective of whether these were the attended or the ignored stimuli. Conclusions: The association between auditory GBR and motor task stimulus in children suggests that phase-locked gamma oscillations may reflect processes of sensory-motor integration. ADHD-related deviations of GBRs indicate that early mechanisms of auditory stimulus processing are altered in ADHD, presumably as a result of impaired motor inhibition.