ResumenEl presente estudio explora si se puede obtener un perfil cognitivo específico para niños/as con TDAH a partir de la Escala de Inteligencia Wechsler para Niños Cuarta Edición (WISC-IV), y si ese perfil es capaz de diferenciar entre los subtipos clínicos de TDAH. Se seleccionó un grupo de control de 47 niños/as y otro grupo clínico de 86 niños/as diagnosticados/as con TDAH, éste último dividido a su vez en dos subgrupos de acuerdo a sus características clínicas. El grupo clínico se caracterizó por una puntuación ICG>ICC respecto al grupo de control. Los subgrupos clínicos no obtuvieron puntuaciones significativamente diferentes en ninguno de los índices, pero sí lo hicieron respecto a la distancia entre el Índice de Memoria de Trabajo y el Índice de Velocidad de Procesamiento. Para el subgrupo TDAH predominantemente inatento esta distancia fue positiva, mientras que para el subgrupo TDAH-combinado fue negativa. Estos resultados aportan evidencia empírica a la hipótesis de la existencia de un perfil cognitivo específico del TDAH, con potencial para discriminar entre subtipos clínicos de TDAH.Palabras clave: TDAH, WISC-IV, patrón cognitivo específico, memoria de trabajo y velocidad de procesamiento. AbstractThis study explores whether a specific cognitive profile for children with ADHD can be obtained through the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) and whether this profile is capable of differentiating between ADHD clinical subtypes. A control group of 47 children was selected, together with a clinical group of 86 children diagnosed with ADHD and divided into 2 subgroups, according to their clinical characteristics. The clinical group was characterized by a GAI > CPI with respect to the control group. The clinical subgroups did not score significantly lower in any index, but they did in the difference between the working memory index and the processing speed index. For those diagnosed with inattentive ADHD, this distance was positive; for those diagnosed with ADHD combined group, it was negative. These findings contribute empirical evidence to the hypothesis that there is a characteristic ADHD cognitive profile, with a potential ability of differentiating between ADHD clinical subtypes.

Background: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is an intermediate state between normal aging and early dementia. Some MCI patients show white matter hyperintensities in magnetic resonance imaging, revealing subcortical vascular damage (SVD). This study aimed to evaluate potential attention deficits not previously described in these patients. Specifically, we evaluated attention network functioning in MCI on the basis of Posner’s cognitive neuroscience model, which considers attention as a set of networks: alerting, orienting and executive control. Methods: Three groups of participants were tested: 19 MCI patients with SVD (svMCI), 15 MCI patients free from SVD (nvMCI) and 19 healthy controls (HC). We used a task in which the three attention networks and their interactions can be assessed simultaneously, the Attention Network Test (ANT). Results: The svMCI group showed smaller orienting effect compared with the nvMCI and HC groups. In contrast to the HC and nvMCI groups, svMCI patients did not show improvement in the executive network from the valid visual cue. Conclusions: svMCI patients show a deficit in orienting attention networks. This deficit could be related to an effect of SVD on the cholinergic system because acetylcholine is implicated in the modulation of covert orienting responses of attention.

Background: Attention deficits are at the core of the defects in neuropsychological performance which define both dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Most studies have used separate tasks to test different attention abilities in patients with these diagnoses, precluding the assessment of any interaction among the different attention components. Methods: We used a version of the Attention Network Test in which the alerting, orienting and executive attention networks, along with their interactions, could be assessed with a single task. Three groups of participants were tested: DLB patients (n = 13), AD patients (n = 18) and healthy controls (n = 18). Results: The alerting signal improved orienting attention and increased the conflict effect in the healthy controls, but they had no effect on these networks in the AD patients. The DLB patients only showed preserved orienting and conflict effects when the alerting signal was present, indicating that there was regulation of the orienting and executive attention networks by the alerting signal. Conclusions: The most important differences among the 3 groups were observed in the attention network interactions, where alerting played a more relevant role in the DLB than in the AD patients. Under alerting states, the DLB patients showed evidence of certain regulation in the orienting and executive attention networks.

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Analysis of oral reading fluency may be useful as a tool for the objective study and quantification of speech deficits in AD.