Latent Inhibition in ADHD Adults on and off Medication: a Preliminary Study

Objective: To determine the effects of stimulant medication on performance of ADHD adults on a selective attention task that assesses the processing of irrelevant stimuli.

Method: ADHD patients and matched controls were given two sessions of a two-stage visual search-latent inhibition (LI) task. In stage-1, they detected the location of a unique shape presented with homogeneous distractors. In stage- 2, target detection response time was examined as a function of the stage-1 experience with the target or distractor, or both, providing a within-subject measure of LI. In Session-1, the ADHD subjects were off their customary stimulant medication. In Session-2, they were on medication.

Results: Off-medicated ADHD subjects exhibited similar LI to that of controls; medicated ADHD subjects exhibited less LI than controls. Group differences in LI were mediated by RTs to the previously task-irrelevant distractor stimulus.

Conclusion: The attenuated LI of the on-medication ADHD group is attributable to drug action that reduces attentional resources allocated to distractors.