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Variation in Parasympathetic Dysregulation Moderates Short-term Memory Problems in Childhood Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

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A Correction to this article was published on 03 March 2018

An Erratum to this article was published on 26 September 2015

This article has been updated

Abstract

Although attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with impairment in working memory and short-term memory, up to half of individual children with ADHD perform within a normative range. Heterogeneity in other ADHD-related mechanisms, which may compensate for or combine with cognitive weaknesses, is a likely explanation. One candidate is the robustness of parasympathetic regulation (as indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia; RSA). Theory and data suggest that a common neural network is likely tied to both heart-rate regulation and certain cognitive functions (including aspects of working and short-term memory). Cardiac-derived indices of parasympathetic reactivity were collected during short-term memory (STM) storage and rehearsal tasks from 243 children (116 ADHD, 127 controls). ADHD was associated with lower STM performance, replicating previous work. In addition, RSA reactivity moderated the association between STM and ADHD – both as a category and a dimension – independent of comorbidity. Specifically, conditional effects revealed that high levels of withdrawal interacted with weakened STM but high levels of augmentation moderated a positive association predicting ADHD. Thus, variations in parasympathetic reactivity may help explain neuropsychological heterogeneity in ADHD.

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Change history

  • 03 March 2018

    The authors note two errors in this article. In the reference section, Musser et al. (2014) was mistakenly used whereas the following entry should have been used.

  • 26 September 2015

    An erratum to this article has been published.

Notes

  1. Extant work has suggested that many commonly used simple span tasks such as those used here consistently load on a factor typically referred to as short-term memory (i.e., storage or rehearsal abilities) while more complex tasks better index working memory (see Engle 2002). However, as evidenced in meta-analytic literature (Martinussen et al. 2005; Willcutt et al. 2005), these simple span tasks are often employed as measures of working memory. Thus, to increase the generalizability of findings to previous studies, we utilize simple span tasks but have chosen to use the terms short-term memory storage and rehearsal to reflect this advancement.

  2. Moderation analyses were also conducted using ADHD Inattentive and Combined presentations as categorical outcomes. Findings largely mirrored those presented here and below. Specific findings are available upon request.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant R01-MH59105 awarded to Joel T. Nigg, Ph. D.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Children and Families, Department of Psychology, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th St., AHC 4 455, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Anthony R. Ward & Erica D. Musser

  2. Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA

    Gabriela Alarcón & Joel T. Nigg

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA

    Joel T. Nigg

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  1. Anthony R. Ward
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  2. Gabriela Alarcón
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  3. Joel T. Nigg
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  4. Erica D. Musser
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Correspondence to Anthony R. Ward.

Additional information

A correction to this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-018-0406-x.

An erratum to this article is available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-015-0083-y.

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Ward, A.R., Alarcón, G., Nigg, J.T. et al. Variation in Parasympathetic Dysregulation Moderates Short-term Memory Problems in Childhood Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. J Abnorm Child Psychol 43, 1573–1583 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-015-0054-3

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