Effects of methylphenidate on event-related potentials and performance of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder children in auditory and visual selective attention tasks

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) children participated in a double-blind placebo-controlled study in which the effects of a dosage of IS mg methylphenidate (MPH) on auditory and visual selective attention tasks was determined by presenting frequent (90%) and infrequent (10%) stimuli in both relevant and irrelevant input channels. The subject's task was to respond to the infrequent tones in the relevant input channel. Processing activity (negativity and positivity) was assessed for both tasks. N1, P2, N2, and P3b peaks were scored in the auditory task and N1, P1, N2, P2 P3(1) and P3b peaks were scored in the visual task. Effects of MPH were more prevalent in the visual than in the auditory condition. In the visual condition MPH enhanced the percentage of hits, caused higher central, parietal, and occipital P3b amplitudes to attended stimuli (both standards and deviants), and also enhanced the frontal processing negativity (PN). In the auditory task MPH did not influence performance, but it enhanced the frontal PN as well as the parietal and occipital P3b amplitudes to all stimulus types. In ADHD children, MPH ameliorates some, but not all, deficits and also improves processing where no differences with normal children are present. (C) 1997 Society of Biological Psychiatry.