Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Improves Time Perception in Children with ADHD

Overview

Journal Sci Rep

Specialty Science

Date 2024 Dec 31

PMID 39738488

Authors

Vahid Nejati

Fateme Mirikaram

Michael A Nitsche

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Individuals with ADHD struggle with time perception. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) are two distinct cortical areas that are involved in the psychopathology of ADHD, including time perception. In the present study, we aimed to explore if modulation of the excitability of these areas with non-invasive brain stimulation alters time perception in ADHD. Twenty-six children with ADHD performed time discrimination and time estimation/reproduction tasks in five sessions with one week interval and specific tDCS conditions. The tDCS conditions were anodal left dlPFC/cathodal right vmPFC, the reversed electrode positioning, isolated anodal left dlPFC, right vmPFC stimulation with extracranial return electrodes, and sham stimulation. An improved time discrimination was observed in all real stimulation conditions compared to sham stimulation, however the results did not differ between real stimulation conditions. For the time reproduction/estimation task, anodal vmPFC/cathodal dlPFC, isolated anodal dlPFC stimulation and isolated anodal vmPFC stimulation with extracranial return electrodes improved time reproduction, but not estimation, compared to sham stimulation. These results imply that the left dlPFC and right vmPFC are involved in time estimation, whereas the right vmPFC might be more critical for time reproduction. This finding is discussed in light of task and stimulus properties.

References

Walg M, Hapfelmeier G, El-Wahsch D, Prior H . The faster internal clock in ADHD is related to lower processing speed: WISC-IV profile analyses and time estimation tasks facilitate the distinction between real ADHD and pseudo-ADHD. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2017; 26(10):1177-1186. PMC: 5610226. DOI: 10.1007/s00787-017-0971-5. View

Noreika V, Falter C, Rubia K . Timing deficits in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): evidence from neurocognitive and neuroimaging studies. Neuropsychologia. 2012; 51(2):235-66. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.09.036. View

Sotnikova A, Soff C, Tagliazucchi E, Becker K, Siniatchkin M . Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Modulates Neuronal Networks in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Brain Topogr. 2017; 30(5):656-672. DOI: 10.1007/s10548-017-0552-4. View

Christakou A, Murphy C, Chantiluke K, Cubillo A, Smith A, Giampietro V . Disorder-specific functional abnormalities during sustained attention in youth with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and with autism. Mol Psychiatry. 2012; 18(2):236-44. PMC: 3554878. DOI: 10.1038/mp.2011.185. View

Sonuga-Barke E, Taylor E, Sembi S, Smith J . Hyperactivity and delay aversion--I. The effect of delay on choice. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 1992; 33(2):387-98. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1992.tb00874.x. View

Javadi A, Brunec I, Walsh V, Penny W, Spiers H . Transcranial electrical brain stimulation modulates neuronal tuning curves in perception of numerosity and duration. Neuroimage. 2014; 102 Pt 2:451-7. PMC: 4229383. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.08.016. View

Umeda S, Kurosaki Y, Terasawa Y, Kato M, Miyahara Y . Deficits in prospective memory following damage to the prefrontal cortex. Neuropsychologia. 2011; 49(8):2178-84. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.03.036. View

Marx I, Cortese S, Koelch M, Hacker T . Meta-analysis: Altered Perceptual Timing Abilities in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2021; 61(7):866-880. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2021.12.004. View

Soltaninejad Z, Nejati V, Ekhtiari H . Effect of Anodal and Cathodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on DLPFC on Modulation of Inhibitory Control in ADHD. J Atten Disord. 2015; 23(4):325-332. DOI: 10.1177/1087054715618792. View

10.

Van Dessel J, Sonuga-Barke E, Mies G, Lemiere J, Van der Oord S, Morsink S . Delay aversion in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder is mediated by amygdala and prefrontal cortex hyper-activation. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2018; 59(8):888-899. DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.12868. View

11.

Bellgrove M, Hawi Z, Kirley A, Gill M, Robertson I . Dissecting the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) phenotype: sustained attention, response variability and spatial attentional asymmetries in relation to dopamine transporter (DAT1) genotype. Neuropsychologia. 2005; 43(13):1847-57. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2005.03.011. View

12.

Smith A, Taylor E, Brammer M, Halari R, Rubia K . Reduced activation in right lateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate gyrus in medication-naïve adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder during time discrimination. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2008; 49(9):977-85. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01870.x. View

13.

Nejati V, Yazdani S . Time perception in children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Does task matter? A meta-analysis study. Child Neuropsychol. 2020; 26(7):900-916. DOI: 10.1080/09297049.2020.1712347. View

14.

Pena-Gomez C, Sala-Lonch R, Junque C, Clemente I, Vidal D, Bargallo N . Modulation of large-scale brain networks by transcranial direct current stimulation evidenced by resting-state functional MRI. Brain Stimul. 2011; 5(3):252-263. PMC: 3589751. DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2011.08.006. View

15.

Klomjai W, Siripornpanich V, Aneksan B, Vimolratana O, Permpoonputtana K, Tretriluxana J . Effects of cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation on inhibitory and attention control in children and adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: A pilot randomized sham-controlled crossover study. J Psychiatr Res. 2022; 150:130-141. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.02.032. View

16.

Adkins D, Voorhies A, Jones T . Behavioral and neuroplastic effects of focal endothelin-1 induced sensorimotor cortex lesions. Neuroscience. 2004; 128(3):473-86. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2004.07.019. View

17.

Salehinejad M, Ghayerin E, Nejati V, Yavari F, Nitsche M . Domain-specific Involvement of the Right Posterior Parietal Cortex in Attention Network and Attentional Control of ADHD: A Randomized, Cross-over, Sham-controlled tDCS Study. Neuroscience. 2020; 444:149-159. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.07.037. View

18.

Dalen L, Sonuga-Barke E, Hall M, Remington B . Inhibitory deficits, delay aversion and preschool AD/HD: implications for the dual pathway model. Neural Plast. 2004; 11(1-2):1-11. PMC: 2565443. DOI: 10.1155/np.2004.1. View

19.

Mioni G, Santon S, Stablum F, Cornoldi C . Time-based prospective memory difficulties in children with ADHD and the role of time perception and working memory. Child Neuropsychol. 2016; 23(5):588-608. DOI: 10.1080/09297049.2016.1172561. View

20.

Mostofsky S, Rimrodt S, Schafer J, Boyce A, Goldberg M, Pekar J . Atypical motor and sensory cortex activation in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study of simple sequential finger tapping. Biol Psychiatry. 2005; 59(1):48-56. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2005.06.011. View