Are “cool” executive function impairments more salient in ADHD symptoms than in reading disability?

Abstract

Introduction: Reading disability (RD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms often co-occur in school-age children. Methods: The present study evaluated the performance of 216 Brazilian children from 3 rd and 4 th grades on "cool" executive function (EF) abilities and phonological processing. The children were divided into three groups: those with ADHD symptoms only, those with RD only, and controls. Results: MANOVA analyses, controlling for age and nonverbal intelligence, showed worse performance for the RD group, compared to the ADHD symptoms group, on measures of phonological processing (phonemic awareness, phonological short-term memory, and lexical access) and "cool" EF components (orthographic verbal fluency and processing speed). The ADHD symptoms group did not differ from the control group on the majority of the "cool" EF tasks. Compared to the control group, the ADHD symptoms group and the RD group both showed significantly more errors in rapid automatized naming of figures, which evaluates the inhibition component of EF; performance on this task was similar for these groups. Conclusion: We conclude that children with RD have greater impairment in phonological processing and "cool" EF compared to those with ADHD symptoms. Furthermore, deficits in inhibitory control may be shared among children with both conditions. ? RESUMO. Introdução: Dificuldades de leitura (DL) e sintomas do Transtorno de Déficit de Atenção e Hiperatividade (TDAH) frequentemente coocorrem em crianças escolares. Métodos: O presente estudo comparou o desempenho em FE "frias" e processamento fonológico de 216 crianças brasileiras de 3ª e 4ª anos, que foram divididas em três grupos: apenas com sintomas de TDAH, apenas em DL e controles. Resultados: As análises de MANOVA, controlando para idade e inteligência não-verbal, indicaram que o grupo com DL apresentou desempenho significativamente inferior ao grupo com sintomas de TDAH nas medidas de processamento fonológico (consciência fonológica, memória verbal de curto prazo e acesso lexical) e em componentes das FE "frias" (fluência verbal ortográfica e velocidade de processamento). O grupo com sintomas de TDAH não se diferiram do grupo controle na maior parte das tarefas de FE "frias". Ambos os grupos com sintomas de TDAH e DL apresentaram desempenhos significativamente menores (mais erros) em comparação às crianças de desenvolvimento típico na tarefa de Nomeação Seriada Rápida de figuras que avalia o componente de controle inibitório, e o desempenho foi semelhante entre os

Comparison of Cognitive and Behavioral Profiles of Individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Dyslexia

“…The differences found in our sample concerning some of the executive functions, such as working memory, demonstrate that both ADHD and DD groups present deficits in storing and manipulating verbal information. Generally speaking, these results corroborate previous findings that identified working memory deficits in these conditions [37][38][39][40][41][42] . In addition, these findings suggest that both disorders may present with auditive working memory deficits.…”

“…Executive function measurements were applied and the ADHD group showed deficits in inhibition, demonstrated by the number of omission errors when compared to neurotypical children. Likewise, the same results were described by Tanir et al 34 , Koltermann et al 40 , and Ferreira et al 20 , showing that deficits in cognitive inhibition may be shared with children in both conditions.…”

I can look for it! Modulation of a concurrent Visual Working Memory task in Visual Search in development

“…These recommendations are particularly important in children with executive function impairments, i.e., in children with language (Im-Bolter et al, 2006;Pascual-Leone and Johnson, 2021) or reading (Koltermann et al, 2020) impairments, arithmetic learning disabilities (Abreu-Mendoza et al, 2018), or attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (Koltermann et al, 2020;Soto et al, 2021). The Theory of Constructive Operators and, specifically, the Model of Endogenous Mental Attention Johnson, 2005, 2021) have proven to be valid models to explain higher cognitive functioning and its development, as we have seen here, and for visual search.…”

Inattention Symptoms are Predictors of Neuropsychological Functioning in Children from 3rd and 4th Grades

“…The association between inattention and reading fluency was previously identified. Inhibiting behaviors, whose deficits may be present in children with ADHD symptoms (Koltermann et al, 2020), allow individuals to process visual and auditory information while preventing them from reacting to stimuli quickly. This aspect is particularly important for reading fluency while some children may impulsively read a word incorrectly, thus causing a greater number of errors than expected.…”