NREM Slow-Wave Activity In Adolescents Is Differentially Associated With ADHD Levels And Normalized By Pharmacological Treatment.
Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2024 Jun 14:pyae025.
https://doi.org/10.1093/ijnp/pyae025
Vivien Reicher1, Orsolya Szalárdy2, Róbert Bódizs2, Blanka Vojnits2, Tárek Zoltán Magyar2, Mária Takács1, János Réthelyi3, Nóra Bunford2
1 Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology Research Group, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest,
Hungary
2 Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
3 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
ABSTRACT
Background
A compelling hypothesis about ADHD etiopathogenesis is that the ADHD phenotype reflects a delay in cortical maturation. Slow-wave activity (SWA) of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) is an electrophysiological index of sleep intensity reflecting cortical maturation. Available data on ADHD and SWA are conflicting and developmental differences, or the effect of pharmacological treatment are relatively unknown.
Methods
We examined, in samples (Mage=16.4, SD=1.2), of ever-medicated adolescents at-risk for ADHD (n=18, 72%boys), medication naïve adolescents at-risk for ADHD (n=15, 67%boys), and adolescents not at-risk for ADHD (n=31, 61%boys) matched for chronological age, whether controlling for non-ADHD pharmacotherapy, ADHD pharmacotherapy modulates the association between NREM SWA and ADHD risk in home sleep.
Results
Findings indicated medication naïve adolescents at-risk for ADHD exhibited greater first sleep cycle and entire night NREM SWA than both ever-medicated adolescents at-risk for ADHD and adolescents not at-risk for ADHD and no difference between ever-medicated, at-risk adolescents and not at-risk adolescents.
Conclusions
Results support atypical cortical maturation in medication naïve adolescents at-risk for ADHD that appears to be normalized by ADHD pharmacotherapy in ever-medicated adolescents at-risk for ADHD. Greater NREM SWA may reflect a compensatory mechanism in middle-later adolescents at-risk for ADHD that normalizes an earlier occurring developmental delay.
Keywords: sleep EEG, slow-wave activity, ADHD, medication, DREEM2 headband