Feedback-related negativity in children with two subtypes of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Jingbo Gong; Jiajin Yuan; Suhong Wang; Lijuan Shi; Xilong Cui; Xuerong Luo

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0099570

Feedback-related negativity in children with two subtypes of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

PLoS One. 2014 Jun 16;9(6):e99570. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099570. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Jingbo Gong¹, Jiajin Yuan², Suhong Wang³, Lijuan Shi⁴, Xilong Cui⁴, Xuerong Luo⁴

Affiliations

¹ Mental Health Institute of The Second Xiangya Hospital, National Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Traditional Chinese Medicine University of Hunan, Changsha, Hunan, PR China.
² School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
³ Mental Health Institute of The Second Xiangya Hospital, National Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Department of Neuroscience, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China.
⁴ Mental Health Institute of The Second Xiangya Hospital, National Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.

Abstract

Objective: The current model of ADHD suggests abnormal reward and punishment sensitivity, although differences in ADHD subgroups are unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effect of feedback valence (reward or punishment) and punishment magnitude (small or large) on Feedback-Related Negativity (FRN) and Late Positive Potential (LPP) in two subtypes of ADHD (ADHD-C and ADHD-I) compared to typically developing children (TD) during a children's gambling task.

Methods: Children with ADHD-C (n = 16), children with ADHD-I (n = 15) and typically developing children (n = 15) performed a children's gambling task under three feedback conditions: large losses, small losses and gains. FRN and LPP components in brain potentials were recorded and analyzed.

Results: In TD children and children with ADHD-C, large loss feedback evoked more negative FRN amplitudes than small loss feedback, suggesting that brain sensitivity to the punishment and its magnitude is not impaired in children with ADHD-C. In contrast to these two groups, the FRN effect was absent in children with ADHD-I. The LPP amplitudes were larger in children with ADHD-C in comparison with those with ADHD-I, regardless of feedback valence and magnitude.

Conclusion: Children with ADHD-C exhibit intact brain sensitivity to punishment similar to TD children. In contrast, children with ADHD-I are significantly impaired in neural sensitivity to the feedback stimuli and in particular, to punishment, compared to TD and ADHD-C children. Thus, FRN, rather than LPP, is a reliable index of the difference in reward and punishment sensitivity across different ADHD-subcategories.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / classification
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / physiopathology
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / psychology*
Child
Child Behavior
Competitive Behavior / physiology
Electroencephalography
Evoked Potentials*
Feedback, Psychological / physiology*
Female
Gambling / psychology*
Humans
Impulsive Behavior
Male
Models, Neurological
Models, Psychological
Psychology, Child*
Punishment / psychology*
Reward*
Sex Factors

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 12JJ5066), the National Natural Science of Foundation of China (NSFC, No. 81101018; 31371042), and Changzhou Science and Technology Application Project (Nos. CJ20112009, CJ20130026). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.