BASE-LINE RESPIRATORY SINUS ARRHYTHMIA AND HEART-RATE RESPONSES DURING AUDITORY-STIMULATION OF CHILDREN WITH ATTENTION-DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER

During passive and active listening tasks baseline respiratory sinus a rrhythmia and heart-rate responses were studied of 18 children with At tention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and 49 healthy school ch ildren. The experimental procedure included baseline recording (no tas k), a passive listening task, instructions, and both simple and discri minative active-listening tasks. ADHD subjects showed less respiratory sinus arrhythmia than normal children but were similarly responsive t o lone stimuli.