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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. When the body speaks

14.11.2022

Children with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) often exhibit impulsive behaviours and find it difficult to manage automatic behaviours and movements. These difficulties are usually assessed through cognitive tests and tests based on levels of accuracy and speed in responding to certain stimuli or instructions. However, their body movements tell a much richer story often overlooked by research and clinical practice.

A research team from the Universities of Padua and Bologna aim to define methods that monitor the movements of children with ADHD taken during traditional tests measured. Their goal is to implement simple tasks and employ a portable and low-cost kinematic sensor tool implemented across a large scale of professionals dealing with neuropsychological assessment and cognitive enhancement.

Coordinated by Teresa Farroni of the Department of Developmental and Socialization Psychology of the University of Padua and Gustavo Marfia of the Department of Arts of the University of Bologna, the study published in the article entitled Reduced motor planning underlying inhibition of prepotent responses in children with ADHD in Scientific Reports.

The researchers employed a wearable accelerometer sensor to monitor and capture the movement features of children during a traditional cognitive test. Children with ADHD were able to block an automatic response that were no longer appropriate in the context of the testing, revealing reduced planning of action compared to typical development. It is difficult to measure subtle differences in traditionally used neuropsychological measures, but they are fundamental to understanding the impulsive behaviours often associated with the diagnosis of ADHD. The kinematic sensor, which captures various characteristics of the child's movement, used for this project may enrich the processes of assessment and enhancement of cognitive abilities in children.