Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder reduces automatic attention in young adults.

Previous ERP studies have provided mixed information about ADHD, especially in adults and when conscious attention to stimuli is not required. We used the auditory N1 to assess automatic attention in adults with and without ADHD. While participants watched a silent video, trains of 5 tones (400-ms onset-to-onset time) were presented with intertrain intervals (ITIs) of 1 or 5 s. The P1, N1, P2, and N2 were analyzed. Compared to controls, participants with ADHD had relatively little N1 attenuation after the 5-s ITI, which was driven by uniformly small N1s to all tones. However, after the 1-s ITI, the ADHD group had relatively large N2s to all 5 tones in the train. The reduced N1 in adults with ADHD indicated reduced automatic attention to salient sound stimuli, which may be due to reduced function of brain-stem arousal mechanisms. However, the increased N2 in these participants suggests they had developed certain compensatory mechanisms.

The Sensory Gating Inventory as a potential diagnostic tool for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Diagnoses of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are often made rapidly in physicians' offices without thorough assessment. We examined whether adults diagnosed with ADHD would score differently from controls on a modified Sensory Gating Inventory (SGI: Hetrick et al. in Schizophr Bull 38:178-191, 2012; Kisley et al. in Psychophysiol 41:604-612, 2004), which would facilitate rapid and easy preliminary assessment of ADHD status. The modified SGI was administered to 22 controls and 22 adults with physician diagnoses of ADHD. Analysis was performed on the 17 SGI items and the three categories to which they belong (Perceptual Modulation, Distractibility, and Over-Inclusion). The Distractibility category, and its individual items, showed large group differences. In spite of a relatively small sample size, we found large effect sizes between those with and without ADHD diagnoses. The SGI is a simple, quick, paper/pencil method that may be used to facilitate accurate diagnosis of individuals experiencing ADHD symptoms, which may be especially useful when evaluations are made in settings such as physicians' offices.