EEG Differences Between the Combined and Inattentive Types of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Girls

Abstract

This study further investigated electroencephalogram (EEG) differences between girls with the Combined and Inattentive types of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD). We selected subjects with widely separated scores on hyperactivity–impulsivity symptoms to behaviorally exaggerate diagnostic group differences. Twenty girls with AD/HD Combined type, 20 girls with AD/HD Inattentive type, and 20 controls (aged 7-12 years) had an eyes-closed resting EEG recorded from 19 electrodes. The EEG was fast Fourier transformed, and estimates for total power, absolute and relative power in the delta, theta, alpha, and beta frequency bands, and the theta/beta ratio were calculated and analyzed in 9 scalp regions. Girls of the Combined type, compared with girls of the Inattentive type, had elevated midline total power, elevated temporal absolute alpha activity, elevated posterior absolute beta activity, reduced right hemisphere relative delta and reduced left hemisphere relative alpha activity, and reduced theta/beta ratio in the left hemisphere. Although topographic differences were again found between the AD/HD types, significant global differences remain elusive in the EEGs of girls with the Combined and Inattentive types. Despite creating behaviorally exaggerated AD/HD type groups, girls’ EEG activity failed to replicate differences found previously in mixed-sex groups. The EEG profiles of AD/HD types in girls are markedly different from those found in boys. This reinforces the notion that it is no longer appropriate to apply the male-based literature to all AD/HD groups; rather, the use of single-sex subject groups is necessary in EEG research of AD/HD.