There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents is characterized
by excessive restlessness and an extremely poor concentration span, resulting in impulsive
and disruptive behavior. Clinical observation of ADHD in adults suggests that the
hyperactivity component is diminished although the impulsive type behaviors remain
apparent. EEG studies of children and adolescents with ADHD have reported significantly
higher levels of low frequency activity (predominantly theta) and lower levels of
beta activity than normal controls.
We examined the relationship between the age-related changes reported in clinical
observation and changes in EEG activity occurring in a group of ADHD patients ranging
in age from 6 to 42 years. Quantitative EEGs were obtained from the midline sites
of 25 children, 25 adolescents and 25 adults diagnosed with ADHD, and compared with
those of age matched normal controls.
Theta activity was elevated in the ADHD groups across all age groups compared with
the normal controls. The extent of the reduction in relative beta activity in the
ADHD groups compared to normal controls decreased with increasing age.
Given that the hyperactivity component in ADHD reduces with age while the impulsivity
component remains, these data, in ADHD, suggest that decreased beta activity may be
linked to hyperactivity and increased theta activity to impulsivity.