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Cited by 13Attention Deficit Hyperactivity DisorderMind wandering and attentionCognitive Functions and Memory

Electrophysiological modulation of sensory and attentional processes during mind wandering in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

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Bozhilova, Natali, Kuntsi, Jonna, Rubia, Katya, Michelini, Giorgia, Asherson, Philip·2021·NeuroImage: Clinical
DOI 10.1016/j.nicl.2020.102547PMC PMC7808945
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Abstract

We recently reported increased mind wandering (MW) frequency in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) relative to controls during high demands on sustained attention, reflecting deficient context regulation of MW. Studies on community samples previously linked context regulation of MW with attenuation in brain sensory processes, reflecting perceptual decoupling, and attentional processes during MW compared to task focus. However, the association between deficient context regulation of MW and these neural processes has not been studied in ADHD. We addressed this question by comparing adults with ADHD (N = 23) and controls (N = 25) on event-related potentials of early sensory processes (P1) and attention allocation (P3) during tasks manipulating cognitive demands (high vs low) on working memory and sustained attention, and during periods of MW and task focus measured through experience-sampling. Compared to controls, adults with ADHD showed reduced P1 during high sustained attention demands, as well as reduced P3 during high working memory demands. These group differences were no longer significant after adding MW frequency as a covariate. Across tasks, adults with ADHD showed no differences from controls on the P1 during MW episodes, but attenuated P1 during task focus. P3 was reduced in adults with ADHD compared to controls during MW, but not during task focus during the sustained attention task. These findings converge to indicate that impairments in early sensory processing in individuals with ADHD seem parallel to increased MW frequency and might reflect inefficient adjustments from periods of MW to task focus.

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  • Increased RTV has been shown to be a behavioral index of increased mind-wandering in adults with ADHD.

    “Furthermore, increased RTV has been shown to be a behavioral index of increased mind-wandering in adults with ADHD (71–73), and has been associated with abnormalities in “switching off” the neural correlates of mind-wandering, the default mode network (DMN) (74) during task performance in children and adults with ADHD (19, 20).”

    From Differential effects of a single dose of Lisdexamfetamine and Guanfacine on cognitive function in children with ADHD (2025) · cites this paper as [71]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Bozhilova, N., Kuntsi, J., Rubia, K., Michelini, G., & Asherson, P.
Affiliations
  • King's College London (GB)
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
Corresponding author
Bozhilova, Natali
ORCID
Venue
NeuroImage: Clinical
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2021
Volume
29
Pages
102547
ISSN
2213-1582 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.nicl.2020.102547
PMC
PMC7808945
OpenAlex
W3116312841
Cited by
13
References
16
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1
FWCI
1.28
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • NeuroImage Clinical (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Queen Mary Research Online (Queen Mary University of London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • King's College London
  • King’s College London
  • South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
  • Medical Research Council
  • National Institute for Health Research (14/23/17, NF-SI-0616-10040)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Mind wandering and attention
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
Keywords
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, mind wandering, P1 component, P300, event-related potentials, early sensory processing, attention allocation, sustained attention, working memory, cognitive demand, task focus
MeSH terms
Adult, Attention, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Brain, Evoked Potentials, Humans, Memory, Short-Term

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