ABSTRACT
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder appearing in childhood but remaining in many cases in adults. There are both pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches to treating ADHD, but they do not have the same efficacy in all subjects. Better knowledge of the neurophysiological basis of this disorder will allow for the design of more effective treatments. Studies performing qEEG analysis in children suggest the existence of subgroups of ADHD patients with different neurophysiological traits. There are fewer studies in adults, who might have undergone plastic changes allowing them to cope with ADHD symptoms along with brain maturation. Herein, we study cognitive performance and the theta/beta ratio in young adults with ADHD symptoms. We found that subjects with ADHD symptoms and low working memory performance (n = 30) present higher theta/beta ratios than controls (n = 40) at O2 and T6 in the eyes-closed condition, as well as a tendency toward a higher theta/beta ratio at O1 and Cz. Subjects with ADHD and high working memory performance (n = 50) do not differ from the controls in their theta/beta ratios at any derivation. Our results suggest that neuropsychological profiling could be useful for patient subgrouping. Further research will allow for the distinction of neuropsychological profiles and their neurophysiological correlates, leading to a better classification of ADHD subtypes, thus improving treatment selection.
ABSTRACT
The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 exposure in children during the global COVID-19 pandemic has been underestimated due to lack of testing and the relatively mild symptoms in adolescents. Understanding the exposure rates in the pediatric population is essential as children are the last to receive vaccines and can act as a source for SARS-CoV-2 mutants that may threaten vaccine escape. This cross-sectional study aims to quantify the prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 serum antibodies in children in a major city in México in the Spring of 2021 and determine if there are any demographic or socioeconomic correlating factors. We obtained socioeconomic information and blood samples from 1,005 children from 50 neighborhood clusters in Mérida, Yucatán, México. We then tested the sera of these participants for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM antibodies using lateral flow immunochromatography. We found that 25.5% of children in our cohort were positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and there was no correlation between age and antibody prevalence. Children that lived with large families were statistically more likely to have antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Spatial analyses identified two hotspots of high SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in the west of the city. These results indicate that a large urban population of unvaccinated children has been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 and that a major correlating factor was the number of people within the child's household with a minor correlation with particular geographical hotspots. There is also a larger population of children that may be susceptible to future infection upon easing of social distancing measures. These findings suggest that in future pandemic scenarios, limited public health resources can be best utilized on children living in large households in urban areas.
