Event-related brain potentials, bilateral electrodermal activity and Mangina-Test performance in learning disabled/ADHD pre-adolescents with severe behavioral disorders as compared to age-matched normal controls

The most frequently encountered developmental problems of learning disabili ties/ADHD often co-exist with severe behavioral disorders. As a direct cons equence, this condition opens the way to delinquency, school drop-out, depr ession, suicide, substance abuse, work absenteeism, and other psyche-social complications. In this paper, we are presenting a selective overview of ou r previous research and its clinical applications in this field as it relat es to our present research data pertaining to the effects of our original M emory Workload Paradigm on the event-related brain potentials in differenti ating normal and pathological pre-adolescents (learning disabled/ADHD with concomitant severe behavioral disorders such as oppositional and conduct). In addition, it provides data on the bilateral electrodermal activity durin g cognitive workload and Mangina-Test performance of pathological and norma l pre-adolescents conducted in separate sessions. The results of our presen t research indicate that a significant memory load effect for the P450 late ncy (F-3,F-27 = 4.98, P < 0.01) and the P450 amplitude (F-3,F-27 = 3.57, P < 0.05) was present for normal pre-adolescents which was absent in patholog ical pre-adolescents. Moreover, enhanced N450 ERP amplitudes to our Memory Workload Paradigm in pre-frontal and frontal regions clearly differentiated normal From pathological pre-adolescents (F-1,F-18 = 12.21, P < 0.004). Fu rthermore, significant differences between normal and pathological groups w ere found in bilateral electrodermal activity (F-1,F-18 =23.86, P < 0.001) and on the Mangina-Test performance (F-1,F-18 = 75.35, P < 0.001). Our pres ent research findings provide an original and valuable demonstration of an integrative and effective clinical psychophysiological application of centr al (ERPs), autonomic (bilateral electrodermal activity) and neuro-psychomet ric aspects (Mangina-Test) which characterize normal and pathological pre-a dolescents and underpin the neurophysiological basis of learning disabled/A DHD with severe behavioral disorders as opposed to normal subjects. (C) 200 0 Elsevier Science B.V. Ail rights reserved.