Objective
Although attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults is associated with significant morbidity and dysfunction and afflicts both sexes, relatively few imaging studies have examined females and none have had sufficient power to adequately examine sex differences. We sought to examine sex differences in neural functioning of ADHD adults during performance on a verbal working memory task.
Method
Participants were 44 adults with ADHD matched on age, sex, and estimated IQ to 49 controls. Accuracy and reaction time on an n-back task were measures of working memory performance. The blood-oxygenation-level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging response was used as a measure of neural activity.
Results
A group by sex ANOVA showed no between-group differences in either reaction time or percent correct for the working memory task. For imaging data, with both sexes combined, ADHD adults showed less activity than controls in prefrontal regions. However, sex-by-group analyses revealed an interaction, such that male ADHD adults showed significantly less activity lateralized to right frontal, temporal and subcortical regions, as well as left occipital and cerebellar regions relative to male controls, whereas female ADHD adults showed no differences from female controls. Exploratory correlation analyses revealed negative associations between working memory related activation and number of hyperactive symptoms for males and number of inattentive symptoms for females.
Conclusions
Male but not female adults with ADHD showed significantly altered patterns of neural activity during performance on a verbal working memory task. Males and females showed different associations between neural activity and ADHD symptoms.
We report on a comparative measurement of anterior knee joint laxity on 30 healthy test subjects and 30 patients with anterior knee joint instability using a new knee testing device (Rolimeter) and the KT- 1000 arthrometer compared to manual assessment of the anterior tibial translation in 30 degrees flexion (Lachman's test). We wanted to establish the reliability of the Rolimeter device compared to manual assessment and to the KT- 1000 arthrometer. The statistical evaluation by means of an analysis of variance (ANOVA) at a significance level of 5% showed no significant difference in the exactitude of measurement between the Rolimeter and the KT-1000 arthrometer, but altogether a significant difference between both instrumental methods compared with manual assessment. Thus the Rolimeter provides an economic, exact and simply operating device for quantifying anterior knee joint instability.
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