Vollenweider Holstein

Fakultäten » Medizinische Fakultät » Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik » Affektive Erkrankungen und Allgemeinpsychiatrie Zürich Ost, Klinik für » Prof. Dr. Daniel Hell (emeritiert) » Vollenweider Holstein

Completed research project

Title / Titel	Relationship between sensorimotor gating, cognition and psychopathology in patients with ADHD and healthy volunteers
PDF	Abstract (PDF, 14 KB)
Summary / Zusammenfassung	Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is an early onset disorder by marked and pervasive inattention, overactivity, and impulsiveness. Deficient early information processing in ADHD patients is thought to result in sensory overload which in turn may underlay ADHD symptoms. Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle reflex and suppression of the P50 auditory evoked potential (P50) are considered operational measures of sensorimotor and sensory gating. Although symptoms in ADHD patients might be linked to impaired gating, studies investigating PPI and P50 in these patients are scant. It still remains an empirical question to what extent deficient gating underlies ADHD symptom formation. On the other hand there is proven evidence that adult ADHD is associated with cognitive deficits in attention, working memory and executive functions. To further clarify the relationship between sensory gating and cognition, within ten months 20 adult patients suffering from DSM-IV ADHD will be recruited from the outpatient service of the University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich. In a cross-section design gating, cognition and psychopathology will be assessed in unmedicated ADHD patients. Healthy control subjects [n=20] without any medication will serve as a comparison group. To our knowledge this will be the first study investigating PPI, P50 and cognitive functioning in the same adult ADHD subjects. The assessment of multiple gating functions (PPI and P50 suppression) and the investigation of their relationship to cognitive performance shall provide important new information about the pattern of physiological alterations in ADHD patients.
Keywords / Suchbegriffe	sensory gating, PPI, P50 suppression, cognition, ADHD
Project leadership and contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte	Prof. Dr. med. Franz Vollenweider (Project Leader) vollen@bli.uzh.ch Lic. phil. Dominique Holstein (Project Leader) dominique.holstein@bli.uzh.ch PD Dr. med. Dominique Eich dominique.eich@puk.zh.ch
Funding source(s) / Unterstützt durch	Others
Duration of Project / Projektdauer	Sep 2008 to Dec 2009