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Visual memory as a potential cognitive endophenotype of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2011

C. Y. Shang  and
S. S. Gau
C. Y. Shang
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
S. S. Gau*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
*
*Address for correspondence: S. S. Gau, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital, No. 7, Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei 10002, Taiwan. (Email: gaushufe@ntu.edu.tw)
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Abstract

Background

Executive functions have been proposed as endophenotypes for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); however, data regarding visual memory are lacking. We therefore assessed visual memory in adolescents with ADHD and their unaffected siblings compared with controls.

Method

The participants included 279 adolescents with ADHD, 108 unaffected siblings, and 173 unaffected school controls. They were assessed by using the visual memory tasks of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB): Delayed Matching to Sample (DMS), Spatial Recognition Memory (SRM), Paired Associates Learning (PAL), and Pattern Recognition Memory (PRM).

Results

Compared with the controls, probands with ADHD had a significantly lower number of correct responses, a higher probability of an error following a correct response and following an error response in the DMS, and a lower percentage of correct responses in the SRM. Their unaffected siblings occupied an intermediate position between ADHD probands and controls in the probability of an error following a correct response and following an error response in the DMS, and in the percentage of correct responses in the SRM. In general, lower IQ and current use of and duration of treatment with methylphenidate were associated with more severe visual memory deficits.

Conclusions

The present results suggest that ADHD is associated with poorer visual memory function. Visual memory assessed by the DMS and SRM tasks in the CANTAB may be a useful endophenotype for ADHD.

Keywords

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorderCambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Batteryendophenotypeunaffected siblingvisual memory
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 41 , Issue 12 , December 2011 , pp. 2603 - 2614
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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