Dysfunctional temporal stages of eye-gaze perception in adults with ADHD: A high-density EEG study

Cheyenne Mauriello; Eleonore Pham; Samika Kumar; Camille Piguet; Marie-Pierre Deiber; Jean-Michel Aubry; Alexandre Dayer; Christoph M Michel; Nader Perroud; Cristina Berchio

doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108351

Dysfunctional temporal stages of eye-gaze perception in adults with ADHD: A high-density EEG study

Biol Psychol. 2022 May:171:108351. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108351. Epub 2022 May 12.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
² Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
³ Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Basic Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Mental Health and Psychiatry, Service of Psychiatric Specialties, Mood Disorders Unit, University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Department of Basic Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁶ Department of Basic Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 35568095
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108351

Abstract

ADHD has been associated with social cognitive impairments across the lifespan, but no studies have specifically addressed the presence of abnormalities in eye-gaze processing in the adult brain. This study investigated the neural basis of eye-gaze perception in adults with ADHD using event-related potentials (ERP). Twenty-three ADHD and 23 controls performed a delayed face-matching task with neutral faces that had either direct or averted gaze. ERPs were classified using microstate analyses. ADHD and controls displayed similar P100 and N170 microstates. ADHD was associated with cluster abnormalities in the attention-sensitive P200 to direct gaze, and in the N250 related to facial recognition. For direct gaze, source localization revealed reduced activity in ADHD for the P200 in the left/midline cerebellum, as well as in a cingulate-occipital network at the N250. These results suggest brain impairments involving eye-gaze decoding in adults with ADHD, suggestive of neural signatures associated with this disorder in adulthood.

Keywords: ADHD; ERP; Eye-gaze; Face perception.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity*
Electroencephalography / methods
Evoked Potentials
Facial Expression
Facial Recognition*
Fixation, Ocular
Humans
Visual Perception