The Connection Between Mind Wandering, ADHD, and Level of Performance on an Attention Task

Cross-modal conflict deficit in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

The difference between the audiovisual incongruent condition and the audiovisual congruent condition is known as cross-modal conflict, which is an important behavioral index to measure the conflict control function. Previous studies have found conflict control deficits in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but it is not clear whether and how cross-modal conflict occurs in children with ADHD at different processing levels. The current study adopted the cross-modal matching paradigm to recruit 25 children with ADHD (19 boys and 6 girls) and 24 TD children (17 boys and 7 girls), aiming to investigate the cross-modal conflict effect at the perception and response levels of children with ADHD. The results showed that both groups of children showed significant cross-modal conflict, and there was no significant difference between the ADHD and TD groups in the number of error trials and mean response time. However, the cross-modal conflict effect caused by auditory distractors was different between the ADHD and TD groups; the TD group had stronger auditory conflict at the response level, whereas the ADHD group had weaker auditory conflict. This indicates that the ADHD group had a deficit of auditory conflict at the response level.

The effect of background sounds on mind wandering

Mind wandering (MW) reflects a situation in which the cognitive system is detached from the main task and involved with inner thoughts. It has been well document that music and other background sounds can have positive effects on number of cognitive functioning. In addition, other body of literature suggests that background sounds might have specifically positive effect on individuals with more attention deficiencies. Hence, the current study examines the effect of background sounds on MW. In two experiments, the effect of background sounds: music (Experiment 1) or an alerting tone (Experiment 2) while performing sustained attention tasks was examined among typical development participants with different severity of attention deficiency. Background sounds were found to reduce MW especially in individuals with more ADHD symptoms. This was further discussed in the context of several theories, and it was suggested that background sound might be used as a tool for MW reduction.

ADHD and Interfering Thoughts in High and Low Conflict Conditions

BACKGROUND

Individuals with an ADHD diagnosis have increased levels of interfering thoughts, especially in the form of mind wandering. This was mostly investigated in sustained attention tasks; hence it is unclear whether the findings are only due to their difficulties in those types of tasks. Moreover, it is unclear how the amount of control invested in the task will affect those differences between control and ADHD groups.

METHOD

ADHD and matched control groups performed the Stroop task under high and low conflict conditions while measuring their interfering thoughts level.

RESULTS

Individuals with ADHD have more interfering thoughts compared to a control group even when they are able to change their control level according to the task conflict.

CONCLUSION

Interfering thoughts are an independent predictor of ADHD impairments, observed regardless of the degree of control invested in the task.

Adults with autism spectrum disorder show atypical patterns of thoughts and feelings during rest

LAY ABSTRACT

Everyone knows the feeling of letting one's mind wander freely in a quiet moment. The thoughts and feelings experienced in those moments have been shown to influence our well-being-and vice versa. In this study, we looked at which thoughts and feelings are being experienced by adults with autism spectrum disorder and compared them to adults without autism spectrum disorder. In total, 88 adults with autism spectrum disorder and 90 adults without autism spectrum disorder were asked to rest for 5 min with their eyes closed and let their mind wander. Directly after, they filled in the Amsterdam Resting-State Questionnaire, which probes what participants were feeling and thinking during the period of rest. We found that adults with autism spectrum disorder tend to think less about others, felt less comfortable, and had more disrupted thoughts during the rest compared to adults without autism spectrum disorder. Interestingly, autism spectrum disorder participants reporting lower levels of comfort during the rest also reported more autism spectrum disorder symptoms, specifically in social behaviors and skills, attention switching, and imagination. We propose to use the eyes-closed rest condition in combination with the Amsterdam Resting-State Questionnaire more widely to shed light on aberrant thoughts and feelings in brain disorders and to study the effect of therapeutic interventions.

Use of Virtual Reality Working Memory Task and Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy to Assess Brain Hemodynamic Responses to Methylphenidate in ADHD Children

Virtual reality (VR) neuropsychological tests have emerged as a method to explore drug effects in real-life contexts in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) children. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a useful tool to measure brain activity during VR tasks in ADHD children with motor restlessness. The present study aimed to explore the acute effects of methylphenidate (MPH) on behavioral performance and brain activity during a VR-based working memory task simulating real-life classroom settings in ADHD children. In total, 23 children with ADHD performed a VR n-back task before and 2 h after MPH administration concurrent with measurements of oxygenated hemoglobin signal changes with fNIRS. Altogether, 12 healthy control (HC) subjects participated in the same task but did not receive MPH treatment. Reaction time (RT) was shortened after MPH treatment in the 1-back condition, but changes in brain activation were not observed. In the 2-back condition, activation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and bilateral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) was decreased alongside behavioral changes such as shorter RT, lower RT variability, and higher accuracy after MPH administration. Bilateral mPFC activation in the 2-back condition inversely correlated with task accuracy in the pre-MPH condition; this inverse correlation was not observed after MPH administration. In ADHD children, deactivation of the default mode network mediated by mPFC reduced during high working memory load, which was restored through MPH treatment. Our results suggest that the combination of VR classroom tasks and fNIRS examination makes it easy to assess drug effects on brain activity in ADHD children in settings simulating real-life.