The P300 component as a neurophysiological correlate of behavioural working memory in adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

INTRODUCTION: Deficit in the executive functions has been widely studied in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The interest in its neurophysiological correlates has led to an improvement in the identification of the symptoms, the characteristics and the treatment of the disorder. AIMS: The objective of this study was to analyse the correlation between latency and amplitude of the P300 component and an ecological measure of working memory in a sample of adolescents. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The sample consisted of 24 boys and 7 girls aged between 12 and 18 years. P300 cognitive evoked potentials in auditory mode at Cz were registered and analysed. Furthermore, the parents filled in an executive behaviour home rating scale (BRIEF), which the working memory index was extracted from. RESULTS: Significant correlations were found between the P300 amplitude and the working memory index of the BRIEF-P. CONCLUSIONS: Results underline the usefulness of the P300 component for the study of its executive correlates, as well as the need to conduct further studies involving larger samples and greater complexity.