Performance of inattentive-overactive children on selected measures of prefrontal-type function

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Abstract
Several theorists have suggested that childhood inattention‐overactivity (“attention deficit disorder,” “hyperactivity”) may arise from a deficit in the inhibitory mechanisms of the prefrontal cortex. Accordingly, it was hypothesized that inattentive‐overactive children would exhibit prefrontal‐type deficits on several relevant neuropsychological measures. Subjects were 21 elementary school pupils who had been referred for disruptive behavior problems and who had been rated as high in inattention‐overactivity. Controls were 26 age‐matched normal children from the same school. It was found that the Inattentive‐Overactive group, relative to the Control group, performed in the direction of prefrontal‐type deficit on three measures that have an empirical history of discriminating patients with prefrontal lesions from controls: Perseverative errors on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, errors on the sequential Matching Memory Task, and Necker Cube reversals. On three theoretical indices of prefrontal‐type deficit–Trailmaking, the Stroop Color‐Word Test, and a sequential memory task for children–the Inattentive‐Overactive group also exhibited predicted deficits. There were no differences between groups on the WISC‐R Vocabulary subtest. The results of the study are generally compatible with a prefrontal‐deficit theory of inattention‐overactivity. However, the presence of other deficits cannot be ruled out nor can an organic cause be inferred from these findings alone.

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