In a randomized case–control trial with 10-years olds suffering from attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) sleep and psychological functioning improved during a 12-week sleep-training program Functional magnetic resonance imaging of methylphenidate and placebo in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder during the multi-source interference task. Effects of methylphenidate on working memory functioning in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Transcranial Oscillatory Direct Current Stimulation During Sleep Improves Declarative Memory Consolidation in Children With Attention-deficit/hyperactivity Disorder to a Level Comparable to Healthy Controls
Abstract Objectives . We tested the hypothesis that sleep training would improve emotional , social and behavioural functioning in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) compared to children with ADHD without such intervention and to healthy controls . Methods . Forty children with ADHD were r and omly assigned to intervention and control conditions . Parents of 20 children with ADHD were instructed and thoroughly supervised in improving their children 's sleep schedules and sleep behaviour .  Parents of the other 20 children with ADHD and parents of 20 healthy children  received general information about sleep hygiene . At baseline and 12 weeks later , parents and children completed question naires related to children 's sleep and psychological functioning . Results . Relative to the control groups , children in the intervention group improved sleep quantitatively and qualitatively ( F values < 3.33 , P values < 0.05 ) . The intervention group children reported improvements in mood , emotions , and relationships ( F values < 2.99 , P values < 0.05 ) . Parents reported that their children improved in physical and psychological wellbeing , mood , emotions , relationships , and social acceptance ( F values < 3.02 , P values < 0.05 ) . Conclusions . Training and monitoring parents of children with ADHD in regulating and supervising children 's sleep schedules leads to positive changes in the emotions , behaviour and social lives of these children CONTEXT Previous studies have reported hypofunction , structural abnormalities , and biochemical abnormalities of the dorsal anterior midcingulate cortex ( daMCC ) in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) . Stimulant medications are effective treatments for ADHD , but their neural effects have not been fully characterized . OBJECTIVE To determine whether the methylpheni date hydrochloride osmotic-release oral system ( OROS ) would increase functional magnetic resonance imaging ( fMRI ) activation , compared with placebo , in the daMCC and other frontoparietal regions subserving attention during the Multi- Source Interference Task ( MSIT ) . DESIGN R and omized , placebo-controlled , 6-week , before-after fMRI study . SETTING Academic medical center ambulatory clinic . PATIENTS Twenty-one adults with ADHD r and omized to 6 weeks of treatment with methylpheni date OROS ( n = 11 ) or placebo ( n = 10 ) . INTERVENTIONS Patients underwent fMRI twice while performing the MSIT ( scan 1 at baseline and scan 2 at 6 weeks ) . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Group-averaged , r and om-effects , repeated- measures , general linear model analyses were used to compare daMCC ( and whole-brain ) fMRI activation during the MSIT . Individual-based daMCC volume-of-interest confirmatory analyses and behavioral data are also presented . RESULTS Performance and baseline fMRI measures in the daMCC and other a priori brain regions did not differ between groups . Group comparisons showed a group x scan interaction and t test confirmation of higher activation in the daMCC at 6 weeks in the methylpheni date OROS group than in the placebo group ( P < 1 x 10(-4 ) , cluster corrected for multiple comparisons ) . Individual daMCC volume-of-interest analyses confirmed group-averaged findings and suggested that daMCC activity might be related to clinical response . Methylpheni date OROS also produced higher activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the parietal cortex at 6 weeks . CONCLUSION Methylpheni date OROS increased daMCC activation during the MSIT and may act , in part , by normalizing daMCC hypofunction in ADHD BACKGROUND AND AIMS Children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) often show deficits in working memory performance .  Methylpheni date ( MPH ) is an effective medication to improve these cognitive difficulties . This study aim ed to clarify which effect MPH induces on the underlying functional networks of working memory . METHODS Fourteen boys diagnosed with ADHD and 12 healthy controls were investigated using functional magnetic resonance imaging ( fMRI ) . Each patient was tested twice , once with medication and once without . The fMRI experiments consisted of three verbal N-back tasks with increasing difficulty . Functional images were acquired on a 3 Tesla head scanner . RESULTS On the behavioral level , medicated patients performed similar to healthy controls and significantly better than without medication . On the functional level , patients showed the expected frontal and parietal activations , which were more pronounced in the 2- and 3-back tasks . Healthy controls showed significantly more activation in these regions and additional activation in the cerebellum . Interestingly , patients showed an additional effect of laterality . Left-sided frontal and parietal activation in patients was significantly less pronounced than in controls . CONCLUSION Functional data indicate different activation patterns in verbal working memory tasks between healthy controls and patients with ADHD irrespective of medication condition . Intake of MPH led to a clear improvement on a behavioral level . However , this effect was not reflected by changes in functional brain organization . MPH-induced changes leading to better performance in verbal working memory tasks might be very subtle and therefore not detectable by fMRI BACKGROUND Slow oscillations ( < 1 Hz ) during slow wave sleep ( SWS ) promote the consolidation of declarative memory .  Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) have been shown to display deficits in sleep-dependent consolidation of declarative memory supposedly due to dysfunctional slow brain rhythms during SWS . OBJECTIVE Using transcranial oscillating direct current stimulation ( toDCS ) at 0.75 Hz , we investigated whether an externally triggered increase in slow oscillations during early SWS elevates memory performance in children with ADHD . METHODS 12 children with ADHD underwent a toDCS and a sham condition in a double-blind crossover study design conducted in a sleep laboratory . Memory was tested using a 2D object-location task . In addition , 12 healthy children performed the same memory task in their home environment . RESULTS Stimulation enhanced slow oscillation power in children with ADHD and boosted memory performance to the same level as in healthy children . CONCLUSION These data indicate that increasing slow oscillation power during sleep by toDCS can alleviate declarative memory deficits in children with ADHD
RESULTS Conjunction analyses revealed overlapping hypoactivations between ADHD and sleep loss in executive function regions , notably the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex .
Sleep deprivation , however , was associated with significantly exaggerated hyperactivation in the thalamus .
Our study indicates that ADHD and sleep deprivation share a common neural signature : hypoactivation of executive function neuroanatomy .
In contrast , sleep loss , but not ADHD , was associated with thalamic hyperactivations , intimating a potential compensatory response in sleep loss not present in ADHD .
STUDY OBJECTIVES Sleep disruption is common in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) .
Likewise , deficits in attention are a hallmark of sleep deprivation in healthy individuals .
Whether ADHD and sleep deprivation modulate common , or disparate , neural systems is unknown .
No study has yet utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging ( fMRI ) to investigate sleep loss in ADHD .
We address this gap by performing a novel meta- analysis to compare patterns of fMRI activation during sleep deprivation and ADHD .