Early Posterior Negativity as Facial Emotion Recognition Index in Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Introduction: Studies indicate that children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have deficits in social and emotional functions. It can be hypothesized that these children have some deficits in early stages of facial emotion discrimination. Based on this hypothesis, the present study investigated neural correlates of early visual processing during emotional face recognition in this group compared with typically developing children using the Event-Related Potentials (ERPs).  Methods: Nineteen boys between the ages of 7 and 11 years diagnosed with ADHD (Combined type) based on DSM-IV-TR classification were compared with 19 typically developing children matched on age and gender. The participants performed an emotional face recognition task while their brain activities were recorded using the event-related potentials procedure.  Results: A significant reduction in the Early Posterior Negativity (EPN) for happy and angry faces has been revealed in ADHD children compared to normal ones (P<0.05). Conclusion: The present study supports the notion that individuals with ADHD have some impairments in early stage of emotion processing which can leading to their misinterpretation of emotion in faces.