Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Behavioral Neuroscience of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Its Treatment pp 67–91Cite as

Intraindividual Variability in ADHD and Its Implications for Research of Causal Links

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences ((CTBN,volume 9))

Abstract

Intraindividual variability (IIV) – reflecting short-term (within-session), within-person fluctuations in behavioral performance – and, specifically, reaction time (RT) variability, is strongly linked with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) both at the phenotypic and genetic levels. Phenotypic case–control comparisons show a consistent and robust association between ADHD and RT variability across a broad range of cognitive tasks, samples, and age ranges (from childhood to adulthood). The association does not appear to be a nonspecific effect mediated by lower general cognitive ability. The finding from quantitative genetic studies of the shared genetic etiology between ADHD and RT variability is similarly robust, replicating across tasks, samples, and definitions of ADHD. Molecular genetic studies have produced intriguing initial findings: increasing sample sizes and replications across datasets remain priorities for future efforts. While the field has come a long way from considering increased RT variability in ADHD as the “noise” or “error” that we need to reduce in our data, the investigation of the causal pathways is only beginning. The neural basis of IIV is being investigated, with initial data pointing to a crucial role of fronto-striatal systems in controlling behavioral consistency. Several theories have been put forward to account for the observed IIV in ADHD, including accounts of arousal regulation, temporal processing and the “default-mode network.” For the wider implications of the IIV phenomenon to be fully realized, we need to learn further about the underlying processes, their developmental context, and about shared and unique causal pathways across disorders where high RT variability is observed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    To analyze the temporal structure of reaction time series, reaction time series can be correlated with themselves (auto-correlations) by correlating a given RT with the next RT (lag 1), next-but-one RT (lag 2), and so on. A significant auto-correlation of lag 6 means that there is a relationship between the RT of a given trial and the RT six trials later.

Abbreviations

BA:

Brodman area

CPT:

Continuous performance test

CV:

Coefficient of variation

DAT:

Dopamine transporter

DMN:

Default-mode network

EEG:

Electro-encephalography

FEF:

Frontal eye fields

fMRI:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging

GWAS:

Genome wide association study

IIV:

Intraindividual variability

MEG:

Magneto-encephalography

MFFT:

Matching familiar figures test

MPH:

Methylphenidate

ODD:

Oppositional Defiant Disorder

PET:

Positron emission tomography

PFC:

Prefrontal cortex: dl (dorsolateral), dm (dorsomedial), vl (ventrolateral)

RT:

Reaction time

SMA:

Supplementary motor area

SSRT:

Stop signal reaction time

TB1:

Traumatic brain injury

TMT:

Trail making test

TOVA:

Test of variables of attention

WAIS:

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

References

  • Abikoff H, Gittelman-Klein R, Klein DF (1977) Validation of a classroom observe code for hyperactive children. J Consult Clin Psychol 45:772–783

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Andreou P, Chen W, Christiansen H, Gabriels I, Heise A, Meidad S, Muller UC, Uebel H, Banaschewski T, Manor I, Neale B, Oades R, Roeyers H, Rothenberger A, Sham P, Steinhausen H-C, Asherson P, Kuntsi J (2007) Reaction time performance in ADHD: improvement under fast-incentive condition and familial effects. Psychol Med 37:1703–1716

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Aron AR, Poldrack RA (2005) The cognitive neuroscience of response inhibition: relevance fir genetic research in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Biol Psychiatry 57:1285–1292

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barkley RA (1997) Behavioral inhibition, sustained attention, and executive functions: constructing a unifying theory of ADHD. Psychol Bull 121(1):65–94

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bellgrove MA, Hester R, Garavan H (2004) The functional neuroanatomical correlates of response variability: evidence from a response inhibition task. Neuropsychologia 42:1910–1916

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ben-Pazi H, Shalev RS, Gross-Tsur V, Bergman H (2006) Age and medication effect on rhythmic responses in ADHD: possible oscillatory mechanisms? Neuropsychologia 44:412–416

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Berwid OG, Curko Kera EA, Marks DJ, Santra A, Bender HA, Halperin JA (2005) Sustained attention and response inhibition in young children at risk for attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 46:1219–1229

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bidwell LC, Willcutt EG, DeFries JC, Pennington BF (2007) Testing for neuropsychological endophenotypes in siblings discordant for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Biol Psychiatry 62:991–998

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bora E, Vahip S, Akdeniz F (2006) Sustained attention deficits in manic and euthymic patients with bipolar disorder. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 30:1097

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brotman MA, Rooney MH, Skup M, Pine DS, Leibenluft E (2009) Increased intrasubject variability in response time in youths with bipolar disorder and at-risk family members. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 48:628–635

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Camicioli RM, Wieler M, de Frias CM, Martin WRW (2008) Early, untreated Parkinson's disease patients show reaction time variability. Neurosci Lett 441:77–80

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Castellanos FX, Tannock R (2002) Neuroscience of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: the search for endophenotypes. Neuroscience 3:617–628

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen NJ, Douglas VI (1972) Characteristics of the orienting response in hyperactive and normal children. Psychophysiology 9:238–245

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Daugherty TK, Quay HC, Ramos L (1993) Response perseveration, inhibitory control, and central dopaminergic activity in childhood behavior disorders. J Genet Psychol 154:177–188

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • DeVito EE, Blackwell AD, Clark L, Kent L, Dezsery AM, Turner DC, Aitken MRF, Sahakian BJ (2009) Methylphenidate improves response inhibition but not reflection-impulsivity in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Psychopharmacology 201:531–539

    Google Scholar 

  • Di Martino A, Ghaffari M, Curchack J, Reiss P, Hyde C, Vannucci M, Petkova E, Klein DF, Castellanos FX (2008) Decomposing intra-subject variability in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Biol Psychiatry 64:607–614

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dimoska A, Johnstone SJ, Barry RJ, Clarke AR (2003) Inhibitory motor control in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: event-related potentials in the stop-signal paradigm. Biol Psychiatry 54:1345–1354

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Faraone SV, Perlis RH, Doyle AE, Smoller JW, Goralnick JJ, Holmgren MA, Sklar P (2005) Molecular genetics of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Biol Psychiatry 57:1313–1323

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Firestone P, Douglas VI (1975) The effects of reward and punishment in reaction times and autonomic activity in hyperactive and normal children. J Abnorm Child Psychol 3:201–216

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fox MD, Snyder AZ, Vincent JL, Corbetta M, Van Essen DC, Raichle ME (2005) The human brain is intrinsically organized into dynamic, anticorrelated functional networks. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102:9673–9678

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fox MD, Snyder AZ, Zacks JM, Raichle ME (2006) Coherent spontaneous activity accounts for trial-to-trial variability in human evoked brain responses. Nat Neurosci 9:23–25

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Geurts H, Grasman RPPP, Verte S, Oosterlaan J, Royers H, van Kammen SM, Sergeant JA (2008) Intra-individual variability in ADHD, autism spectrum disorders and Tourette’s syndrome. Neuropsychologia 46:3030–3041

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gilden DL (2001) Cognitive emissions of 1/f noise. Psychol Rev 108:33–56

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gilden DL, Hancock H (2007) Response variability in attention-deficit disorders. Psychol Sci 18:796–802

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Halperin JM, Schulz KP (2006) Revisiting the role of the prefrontal cortex in the pathophysiology of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Psychol Bull 132:560–581

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Halperin JM, Trampush JW, Miller CJ, Marks DJ, Newcorn JH (2008) Neuropsychological outcome in adolescents/young adults with childhood ADHD: profiles of persisters, remitters and controls. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 64:958–966

    Google Scholar 

  • Heathcote A, Brown S, Cousineau D (2004) QMPR: estimating lognormal, wald, weibull RT distributions with parameter-dependent lower bound. Behav Res Methods Instrum Comput 36:277–290

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heiser P, Frey J, Smidt J, Sommerlad C, Wehmeier PM, Hebebrand J, Remschmidt H (2004) Objective measurement of hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention in children with hyperkinetic disorders and after treatment with methylphenidate. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 13:100–104

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins J, Perlman T, Hechtman L, Weiss G (1979) Cognitive style in adults originally diagnosed as hyperactives. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 20:209–216

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jennings JR, van der Molen MW, Pelham W, Debski KB, Hoza B (1997) Inhibition in boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as indexed by heart rate changes. Dev Psychol 33:308–318

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen AR (1992) The importance of intraindividual variation in reaction time. Personal Individ Differ 13:869–881

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson KA, Kelly SP, Bellgrove MA, Barry E, Cox M, Gill M, Robertson IH (2007) Response variability in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: evidence for neuropsychological heterogeneity. Neuropsychologia 45:630–638

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson KA, Kelly SP, Robertson IH, Mulligan A, Daly M, Lambert D, McDonnell C, Connor TJ, Hawi Z, Gill M, Bellgrove MA (2008a) Absence of the 7-repeat variant of the DRD4 VTNR is associated with drifting sustained attention in children with ADHD but not in controls. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 147:927

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson KA, Barry E, Bellgrove MA, Cox M, Kelly SP, Daibhis A, Daly M, Keavey M, Watchorn A, Fitzgerald M, McNicholas F, Kirley A, Robertson IH, Gill M (2008b) Dissociation in response to methylphenidate on response variability in a group of medication naive children with ADHD. Neuropsychologia 46:1532–1541

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson KA, Wiersema JR, Kuntsi J (2009) What would Karl Popper say? Are current psychological theories of ADHD falsifiable? Behav Brain Funct 5:15

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kaiser S, Roth A, Rentrop M, Friederich HC, Bender S, Weisbrod M (2008) Intra-individual reaction time variability in schizophrenia, depression and borderline personality disorder. Brain Cogn 66:73–82

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kebir O, Tabbane K, Sengupta S, Joober R (2009) Candidate genes and neuropsychological phenotypes in children with ADHD: review of association studies. J Psychiatry Neurosci 34:88–101

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly AMC, Uddin LQ, Biswal BB, Castellanos FX, Milham MP (2008) Competition between functional brain networks mediates behavioral variability. NeuroImage 39:527–537

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kerns KA, McInerney RJ, Wilde N (2001) Investigation of time reproduction, working memory, and behavioral inhibition in children with ADHD. Child Neuropsychol 7:21–31

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Klein C, Feige B (2005) An independent components analysis (ICA) approach to the study of developmental differences in the saccadic contingent negative variation. Biol Psychol 70:105–114

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klein C, Berg P, Rockstroh B, Andresen B (2000) Topography of the auditory P300 in schizotypal personality. Biol Psychiatry 45:1612–1621

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein C, Wendling K, Huettner P, Ruder H, Peper M (2006) Intra-subject variability in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Biol Psychiatry 60:1088–1097

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Krause K-H, Dresel SH, Krause J, la Fougere C, Ackenheil M (2003) The dopamine transporter and neuroimaging in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 27:605–613

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kuntsi J, Stevenson J (2001) Psychological mechanisms in hyperactivity: II. The role of genetic factors. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 42:211–219

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kuntsi J, Oosterlaan J, Stevenson J (2001) Psychological mechanisms in hyperactivity: I. Response inhibition deficit, working memory impairment, delay aversion, or something else? J Child Psychol Psychiatry 42:199–210

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kuntsi J, Wood AC, van der Meere J, Asherson P (2009) Why cognitive performance in ADHD may not reveal true potential: findings from a large population-based sample. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 15:570–579

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuntsi J, Wood AC, Rijsdijk F, Johnson KA, Andreou P, Albrecht B, Arias-Vasquez A, Buitelaar JK, McLoughlin G, Rommelse NNJ, Sergeant JA, Sonuga-Barke EJS, Uebel H, van der Meere J, Banaschewski T, Gill M, Manor I, Miranda A, Mulas F, Oades R, Royers H, Rothenberger A, Steinhausen H-C, Faraone SV, Asherson P (2010) Separation of cognitive impairments in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder into 2 familial factors. Arch Gen Psychiatry 67:1159–1167

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lee SH, Song DH, Kim BN, Joung YS, Shin YJ, Yoo HJ, Shin DW (2009) Variability of response time as a predictor of methylphenidate treatment response in Korean children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Yonsei Med J 50:650–655

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leth-Steensen C, Elbaz ZK, Douglas VI (2000) Mean response times, variability, and skew in the responding of ADHD children: a response time distributional approach. Acta Psychol 104:167–190

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leung PWL, Connolly KJ (1996) Distractibility in hyperactive and conduct-disordered children. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 37:305–312

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Logan DG, Cowan WB (1984) On the ability to inhibit thought and action: a theory of an act of control. Psychol Rev 91:295–327

    Google Scholar 

  • Loo SK, Smalley SL (2008) Preliminary report of familial clustering of EEG measures in ADHD. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatry Genet 147:107–109

    Google Scholar 

  • Luciano M (2010) Adolescent brain development: current themes and future directions (editorial). Brain Cogn 72:1–5

    Google Scholar 

  • Luck SJ (2005) An introduction to the event-related potential technique. MIT Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Luman M, van Noesel SJP, Papanikolau A, Van Oostenbruggen-Scheffer J, Veugelers D, Sergeant JA, Oosterlaan J (2009) Inhibition, reinforcement sensitivity and temporal information processing in ADHD and ADHD + ODD: evidence of a separate entity? J Abnorm Child Psychol 37:1123–1135

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Luna B, Velanova K, Geier CF (2008) Development of eye movement control. Brain Cogn 68:293–308

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald SWS, Cervenka S, Farde L, Nyberg L, Baeckman L (2009) Extrastriatal dopamine D2 receptor binding modulates intraindividual variability in episodic recognition and executive functioning. Neuropsychologia 47:2299–2304

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mahone EM, Hagelthorn KM, Cutting LE, Schuerholz LJ, Pelletier SF, Rawlins C, Singer HS, Denckla MB (2002) Effects of IQ on executive function measures in children with ADHD. Child Neuropsychol 8:52–65

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McInerney RJ, Kerns KA (2003) Time reproduction in children with ADHD: motivation matters. Child Neuropsychol 9:91–108

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mirsky AF, Pascualvaca DM, Duncan CC, French LM (1999) A model of attention and its relation to ADHD. Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev 5:169–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Nigg JT (1999) The ADHD response-inhibition deficit as measured by the stop task: replication with DSM-IV combined type, extension, and qualification. J Abnorm Child Psychol 27:393–402

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nigg JT, Blaskey LG, Stawicki JA, Sachek J (2004) Evaluating the endophenotype model of ADHD neuropsychological deficit: results for parents and siblings of children with ADHD combined and inattentive subtypes. J Abnorm Psychol 113:614–625

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oades RD, Christiansen H (2008) Cognitive switching processes in young people with attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder. Arch Clin Neuropsychol 23:21–32

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connell RG, Bellgrove MA, Dockree PM, Lau A, Fitzgerald M, Robertson IH (2008) Self-alert training: volitional modulation of autonomic arousal improves sustained attention. Neuropsychologia 46:1379–1390

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connell RG, Dockree PM, Bellgrove MA, Turin A, Ward S, Foxe JJ, Robertson IH (2009) Two types of action error: electrophysiological evidence for separable inhibitory and sustained attention neural mechanisms producing error on go/no-go tasks. J Cogn Neurosci 21:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Ohashi K, Vitalino G, Polcari A, Teicher MH (2010) Unraveling the nature of hyperactivity in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry 67:388–396

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oosterlaan J, Sergeant JA (1995) Response choice and inhibition in ADHD, anxious and aggressive children: the relationship between S-R-compatibility and stop signal task. In: Sergeant JA (ed) Eunethydis: European approaches to hyperkinetic disorder. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 225–240

    Google Scholar 

  • Oosterlaan J, Sergeant JA (1998) Effects of reward and response cost on response inhibition in AD/HD, disruptive, anxious, and normal children. J Abnorm Child Psychol 26:161–174

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Paus T, Zatorre RJ, Hofle N, Caramanos Z, Gotean J, Petrides M, Evans AC (1997) Time-related changes in neural systems underlying attention and arousal during the performance of an auditory vigilance task. J Cogn Neurosci 9:392–408

    Google Scholar 

  • Pliszka SR, Liotti M, Woldorff MG (2000) Inhibitory control in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: event-related potentials identify the processing component and timing of an impaired right-frontal response-inhibition mechanism. Biol Psychiatry 48:238–246

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Posner MI, Petersen SE (1990) The attention system of the human brain. Ann Rev Neurosci 13:25–42

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pouget P, Wattiez N, Rivaud-Pechout S, Gaymard B (2009) A fragile balance: perturbation of GABA mediated curcuit in prefrontal cortex generates high intraindividual performance variability. PLoS One 4:e5208. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005208

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Purvis KL, Tannock R (2000) Phonological processing, not inhibitory control, differentiates ADHD and reading disability. J Am Acad Child Adol Psychiatry 39:485–494

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Raichle ME, Snyder AZ (2007) A default mode of brain function: a brief history of an evolving idea. NeuroImage 37:1083–1090

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rapport MD, Kofler MJ, Alderson M, Timko TM, DuPaul GJ (2009) Variability of attention processes in ADHD: observations from the classroom. J Atten Disord 12:563–573

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson IH, Mattingley JB, Rorden C, Driver J (1998) Phasic alerting of neglect patients overcomes their spatial deficit in visual awareness. Nature 395:169–172

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rommelse NNJ, Altink ME, Oosterlaan J, Beem L, Buschgens CJM, Buitelaar JK, Sergeant JA (2008) Speed, variability, and timing of motor output in ADHD: which measures are useful for endophenotypic research? Behav Genet 38:121–132

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ronald A, Simonoff E, Kuntsi J, Asherson P, Plomin R (2008) Evidence for overlapping genetic influences on autistic and ADHD behaviours in a community twin sample. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 49:535–542

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosvold H, Mirsky A, Sarason I (1956) A continuous performance test of brain damage. J Consult Psychol 20:343–350

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rubia K, Oosterlaan J, Sergeant JA, Brandeis D, Van Leeuwen TH (1998) Inhibitory dysfunction in hyperactive boys. Behav Brain Res 94:25–32

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rubia K, Taylor E, Smith AB, Oksannen H, Overmeyer S, Newman S (2001) Neuropsychological analyses of impulsiveness in childhood hyperactivity. Br J Psychiatry 179:138–143

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rubia K, Smith AB, Brammer MJ, Taylor E (2007) Temporal lobe dysfunction in medication-naïve boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder during attention allocation and its relation to response variability. Biol Psychiatry 62:999–1006

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rucklidge JJ, Tannock R (2002) Neuropsychological profiles of adolescents with ADHD: effects of reading difficulties and gender. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 43:988–1003

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Russell VA, Oades RD, Tannock R, Killeen PR, Auerbach JG, Johansen EB, Sagvolden T (2006) Response variability in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a neuronal and glial energetics hypothesis. Behav Brain Funct 2:30

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sagvolden T, Johansen EB, Aase H, Russell VA (2005) A dynamic developmental theory of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) predominantly hyperactive/impulsive and combined subtypes. Behav Brain Sci 28:397–419

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sanders AF (1983) Towards a model of stress and performance. Acta Psychol 53:61–97

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schachar R, Logan GD (1990) Impulsivity and inhibitory control in normal development and childhood psychopathology. Dev Psychol 26:710–720

    Google Scholar 

  • Schachar RJ, Tannock R, Logan G (1993) Inhibitory control, impulsiveness, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Clin Psychol Rev 13:721–739

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheres A, Oosterlaan J, Sergeant JA (2001) Response execution and inhibition in children with AD/HD and other disruptive disorders: the role of behavioural activation. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 42:347–357

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schmiedek F, Oberauer K, Wilhelm O, Suess HM, Wittmann WW (2007) Individual differences in components of reaction time distributions and their relations to working memory and intelligence. J Exp Psychol Gen 136:414–429

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schulz KP, Fan J, Tang CY, Newcorn JH, Buchsbaum MS, Cheung AM, Halperin JM (2004) Response inhibition in adolescents diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder during childhood: an event-related fMRI study. Am J Psychiatry 161:1650–1657

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz F, Carr AC, Munich RL, Glauber S, Lesser B, Murray J (1989) Reaction time impairment in schizophrenia and affective illness: the role of attention. Biol Psychiatry 25:540–548

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz F, Munich RL, Carr A, Bartuch E, Lesser B, Rescigno D, Viegener B (1991) Negative symptoms and reaction time in schizophrenia. J Psychiatr Res 25:131–140

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sergeant JA (2005) Modeling attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a critical appraisal of the cognitive-energetic model. Biol Psychiatry 11:1248–1255

    Google Scholar 

  • Shue KL, Douglas VL (1992) Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and the frontal lobe syndrome. Brain Cogn 20:104–124

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Simmonds DJ, Fotedar SG, Suskauer SJ, Pekar JJ, Denckla MB, Mostofsky SH (2007) Functional brain correlates of response time variability in children. Neuropsychologia 45:2147–2157

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Skirrow C, McLoughlin G, Kuntsi J, Asherson P (2009) Behavioural, neurocognitive and treatment overlap between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and mood instability. Expert Rev Neurother 9:489–503

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sonuga-Barke EJS, Castellanos FX (2007) Spontaneous attentional fluctuations in impaired states and pathological conditions: a neurobiological hypothesis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 31:977–986

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens J, Quittner AL, Zuckerman JB, Moore S (2002) Behavioural inhibition, self-regulation of motivation, and working memory in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Dev Neuropsychol 21:117–139

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stuss DT, Pogue J, Buckle L, Bondar J (1994) Characterization of stability of performance in patients with traumatic brain injury: variability and consistency on reaction time tests. Neuropsychology 8:316–324

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuss DT, Murphy KJ, Binns MA, Alexander MP (2003) Staying on the job: the frontal lobes control individual performance variability. Brain 126:2363–2380

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Teicher MH, Lowen SB, Polcari A, Foley M, McGreenery CE (2004) Novel strategy for the analysis of CPT data provides new insights into the effects of methylphenidate on attentional states in children with ADHD. J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 14:219–232

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Trommer BL, Hoeppner JA, Lorber R, Armstrong KJ (1988) The Go-NoGo paradigm in attention deficit disorder. Ann Neurol 24:610–614

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Uebel H, Albrecht B, Asherson P, Borger N, Butler L, Chen W, Christiansen H, Heise A, Kuntsi J, Schafer U, Andreou P, Manor I, Marco R, Meidad S, Miranda A, Mulligan A, Oades R, van der Meere J, Faraone SV, Rothenberger A, Banaschewski T (2010) Performance variability, impulsivity errors and the impact of incentives as gender-independent endophenotypes for ADHD. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 511:210–218

    Google Scholar 

  • van den Bosch RJ, Rombouts RP, van Asma MJ (1996) What determines continuous performance task performance? Schiz Bull 22:643–651

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Meere JJ (2002) The role of attention. In: Sandberg S (ed) Hyperactive disorders of childhood. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 162–213

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Meere J, Sergeant J (1988) Acquisition of attention skill in pervasively hyperactive children. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 29:301–310

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van der Meere J, Wekking E, Sergeant JA (1991) Sustained attention and pervasive hyperactivity. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 32:275–284

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Verleger R (1988) Event-related potentials and cognition: a critique of the context updating hypothesis and an alternative interpretation of P3. Behav Brain Res 11:343–327

    Google Scholar 

  • Vinogradov S, Poole JH, Willis-Shore J, Ober BA, Shenaut GK (1998) Slower and more variable reaction times in schizophrenia: what Do they signify? Schiz Res 32:183–190

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Weissman DH, Roberts KC, Visscher KM, Woldorff MG (2006) The neural bases of momentary lapses in attention. Nat Neurosci 9:971–978

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Willcutt EG, Doyle AE, Nigg JT, Faraone SV, Pennigton BF (2005) Validity of the executive function theory of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a meta-analytic review. Biol Psychiatry 57:1336–1346

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wood AC, Asherson P, Rijsdijk F, Kuntsi J (2009) Is overactivity a core feature in ADHD? Familial and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of mechanically assessed activity level. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 48:1023–1030

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wood AC, Buitelaar JK, Rijsdijk F, Asherson P, Kuntsi J (2010a) Rethinking shared environment as a source of variance underlying attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder symptoms: Comment on Burt (2009). Psychol Bull 36:331–340

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood AC, Asherson P, van der Meere J, Kuntsi J (2010b) Separation of genetic influences on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms and reaction time performance from those on IQ. Psychol Med 40:1027–1037

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wood AC, Rijsdijk F, Johnson KA, Andreou P, Albrecht B, Arias-Vasquez A, Buitelaar JK, McLoughlin G, Rommelse NNJ, Sergeant JA, Sonuga-Barke EJS, Uebel H, van der Meere J, Banaschewski T, Gill M, Manor I, Miranda A, Mulas F, Oades RD, Royers H, Rothenberger A, Steinhausen H-C, Faraone SV, Asherson P, Kuntsi J (2011) The relationship between ADHD and key cognitive phenotypes is not mediated by shared familial effects with IQ. Psychol Med 41:861–871

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. King’s College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, UK

    Jonna Kuntsi

  2. School of Psychology, Bangor University School of Psychology, Adeilad Brigantia, Penrallt Road, Gwynedd, LL57 2AS, UK

    Christoph Klein

  3. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

    Christoph Klein

Authors
  1. Jonna Kuntsi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christoph Klein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jonna Kuntsi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Dept of Neurosci, Physiol & Pharmacol, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E6BT, United Kingdom

    Clare Stanford

  2. , Human Development & Applied Psychology, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Edu, Bloor Street West 252, Toronto, M5S1V6, Canada

    Rosemary Tannock

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Kuntsi, J., Klein, C. (2011). Intraindividual Variability in ADHD and Its Implications for Research of Causal Links. In: Stanford, C., Tannock, R. (eds) Behavioral Neuroscience of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Its Treatment. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, vol 9. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2011_145

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation