Abstract
Waking ultradian rhythms in a visual performance task (detections and false positives) and in motility (global body movements and segmental limb movements during the task, and segmental limb movements during offtask periods) were examined in groups of nonmedicated hyperkinetic (HK) children (N=11) and matched normal controls (N=77). Testing was conducted for 5 minutes every 15 minutes (with 10minute “rest periods”) over a 6hour period on 2 consecutive days. Results revealed that HK subjects made significantly fewer detections (p<.05) and were more active (p<.01) during offtask periods on both days. Increased limb movement in HK subjects during the task was marginally significant (p<.06) on one day. False positives and global body movements failed to differentiate the groups. With regard to ultradian rhythmicity, some subjects in both groups showed evident ultradian peaks, which were present across a wide range of frequencies in one or more variables. There were no significant differences in the incidence of the period of evident ultradian peaks between the two groups.
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We are grateful for the cooperation of the staff of the psychology department, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, who referred the hyperkinetic children to the study, and we wish to thank Leah Schnitzer and Claude Manseau for their help in data acquisition and analysis. The study was supported by a grant from the Physicians' Services Incorporated Foundation.
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Busby, K.A., Broughton, R.J. Waking ultradian rhythms of performance and motility in hyperkinetic and normal children. J Abnorm Child Psychol 11, 431–442 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00914250
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00914250