Author(s)

Akira Yasumura^1,2*, Kotaro Yuge³, Chiyomi Egami⁴, Chizuru Anai⁵, Akiko Mukasa⁵, Yushiro Yamashita^3,5, Masumi Inagaki¹

¹Department of Developmental Disorders, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan.
²Department of Neuropsychiatry, The University of Tokyo Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
³Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Kurume University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan.
⁴Faculty of Nursing, Fukuoka Prefectural University, Fukuoka, Japan.
⁵NPO Kurume summer treatment program, Fukuoka, Japan.

Deficiency in executive functioning is a core symptom of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The brain part responsible for executive functions is the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Although drug-based interventions can improve PFC activity, reports on PFC activity being improved by behavioral treatment are lacking. We evaluated whether a summer treatment program (STP) administering comprehensive behavioral treatment would increase PFC activity in children with ADHD. We examined behavioral and neural changes in 20 children before and after the STP, conducted over a 2-week period. We asked the parents/guardians to complete the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham IV scale to assess severity of ADHD. The main task evaluating executive control was the reverse Stroop task. To examine changes in physiological indices, we used near-infrared spectroscopy to measure changes in PFC activity. Subjective assessments by parents/guardians indicated that ADHD symptoms improved significantly. There was also significant improvement in the number of correct responses and interference rates in the reverse Stroop task. Furthermore, post-intervention PFC activity was significantly higher. These results suggest that the STP improved inhibitory control in executive function, which is considered as a key symptom of ADHD. The increase in PFC activity further suggests that the STP improves cognition through neural function.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Inhibitory Control, Prefrontal Cortex, Behavioral Treatment, Reverse Stroop Task, Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Yasumura, A. , Yuge, K. , Egami, C. , Anai, C. , Mukasa, A. , Yamashita, Y. and Inagaki, M. (2016) Behavioral and Neural Enhancing Effects of a Summer Treatment Program in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Open Journal of Pediatrics, 6, 91-99. doi: 10.4236/ojped.2016.61015.