Open AccessIndices of Heart Rate Variability and Performance During a Response-Conflict Task Are Differently Associated With ADHD and Autism
Author(s) -
Alessio Bellato,
Iti Arora,
Puja Kochhar,
Chris Hollis,
Madeleine J. Groom
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of attention disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.076
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1557-1246
pISSN - 1087-0547
DOI - 10.1177/1087054720972793
Subject(s) - autism , psychology , neurotypical , arousal , heart rate variability , audiology , cognition , developmental psychology , stimulus (psychology) , electrophysiology , response inhibition , autism spectrum disorder , heart rate , neuroscience , cognitive psychology , medicine , radiology , blood pressure
We investigated autonomic arousal, attention and response conflict, in ADHD and autism. Heart rate variability (HRV), and behavioral/electrophysiological indices of performance, were recorded during a task with low and high levels of response conflict in 78 children/adolescents (7–15 years old) with ADHD, autism, comorbid ADHD+autism, or neurotypical. ANOVA models were used to investigate effects of ADHD and autism, while a mediation model was tested to clarify the relationship between ADHD and slower performance. Slower and less accurate performance characterized ADHD and autism; however, atypical electrophysiological indices differently characterized these conditions. The relationship between ADHD and slower task performance was mediated by reduced HRV in response to the cue stimulus. Autonomic hypo-arousal and difficulties in mobilizing energetic resources in response to sensory information (associated with ADHD), and atypical electrophysiological indices of information processing (associated with autism), might negatively affect cognitive performance in those with ADHD+autism.