Links between excessive daytime sleepiness and EEG power and activation in two subtypes of ADHD

Laura E McCabe; Stuart J Johnstone; Han Jiang; Li Sun; Da-Wei Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108504

Links between excessive daytime sleepiness and EEG power and activation in two subtypes of ADHD

Biol Psychol. 2023 Feb:177:108504. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108504. Epub 2023 Jan 19.

Authors

Laura E McCabe¹, Stuart J Johnstone², Han Jiang³, Li Sun⁴, Da-Wei Zhang⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychology, Brain & Behaviour Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Australia.
² School of Psychology, Brain & Behaviour Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Australia. Electronic address: sjohnsto@uow.edu.au.
³ School of Special Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Hangzhou, China.
⁴ Peking University Sixth Hospital and Institute of Mental Health, Beijing, China; National Clinical Research Centre for Mental Disorders & Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Ministry of Health (Peking University), Beijing, China.
⁵ Department of Psychology, School of Educational Science, Yangzhou University, Jiangsu, China.

PMID: 36681294
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108504

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to replicate previously reported EEG characteristics between typically developing (TD) children and two subtypes of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) using a frontal, single-channel, dry-sensor portable EEG device, and explore whether differences are moderated by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS).

Methods: Children with ADHD Inattentive (ADHD-I) and ADHD Combined presentation (ADHD-C) and typically-developing (TD) children (N = 34 in each group) had frontal EEG recorded during eyes-closed resting, eyes-open resting, and focus tasks. Participants also completed the Children's Self-Report Sleep Patterns - Sleepiness Scale as a measure of EDS.

Results: Consistent with previous literature, there were increases in frontal delta and theta power in the ADHD-C compared to ADHD-I and TD groups, in all conditions. Novel power and activation effects in ADHD subtypes, as well as significant group and EDS interactions for alpha and beta power were also found.

Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of considering ADHD subtypes and EDS when exploring EEG characteristics, and have important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of children with ADHD.

Keywords: ADHD Subtypes; Activation; EEG; Excessive daytime sleepiness; Power.

MeSH terms

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity* / diagnosis
Child
Cognition
Disorders of Excessive Somnolence*
Electroencephalography
Humans
Rest