Neuropsychological classification based on brain mapping performance in Thai children with and without ADHD

Variations in Theta/Beta Ratio and Cognitive Performance in Subpopulations of Subjects with ADHD Symptoms: Towards Neuropsychological Profiling for Patient Subgrouping

“…Subjects within the ADHD group varied greatly in their performance on the working memory test, highlighting cognitive heterogeneity in these subjects. Given the existence of subgroups of ADHD patients reported in children [ 26 , 27 ], and considering that adults with ADHD symptoms might have undergone important plastic changes both associated with brain maturation and as a way of coping with ADHD symptoms, we assumed that adult subjects with ADHD symptoms might also represent a heterogeneous group. Furthermore, since previous attempts at defining subgroups of ADHD patients have addressed this task based on qEEG activity, it is reasonable to suppose that different neurophysiological correlates in persons with similar symptomatology might impact other areas such as cognitive performance.…”

“…The analysis of their performance in the working memory test revealed no difference between the ADHD and the control groups ( Figure 1 A); however, there was high heterogeneity in the performance of the group with ADHD symptoms. It is known that ADHD presents high etiological diversity, as well as variation in the neurophysiological correlates of this disorder, in different studies [ 21 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. Therefore, we assessed whether our ADHD subjects were indeed heterogeneous through their performance in a working memory test.…”

“…There are articles reporting the classification of ADHD patients based on their qEEG [ 25 , 26 , 27 ]. Our work suggests that different neurophysiological correlates also imply different cognitive affectation in ADHD patients.…”

“…For example, a study performed on Thai children with ADHD reports different subgroups of patients considering the analysis of theta-relative power based on their brain mapping performance. The authors propose a relationship of the different qEEG profiles with specific neuropsychological profiles [ 26 ]. Similarly, another study separates children with ADHD into three subgroups based on their qEEG analysis.…”

“…Since different subpopulations exist within patients diagnosed with ADHD, efforts directed toward identifying specific subgroups will help to achieve better treatment selection. Some attempts have been made by classifying children with ADHD based on qEEG analysis [ 26 , 27 ], while this approach has not been attempted in adults, whose neurophysiological correlates of ADHD differ from those of children [ 28 , 29 ]. Furthermore, different alterations in brain activity present in patients with ADHD could affect cognitive performance in different forms, so cognitive performance could help to distinguish between subpopulations of subjects with similar diagnoses.…”