EEG Research on ADHD and Neurotypical Patients with Effects on Underrepresented Groups

 

Auditory-evoked neural responses may be different in neurotypical patients and those with ADHD. Through electroencephalography, in an article titled “Top-down attention modulates auditory-evoked neural responses in neurotypical, but not ADHD, young adults” (Kwasa et al.) the researchers measured the participants’ ability to selectively attend to goal-relevant auditory stimuli. The researchers found that participants with ADHD shows weaker attentional filtering than neurotypical participants. The overall finding was that on an individual level participants performed differently when it came to attention to modulate sensory responses based on task goals.

When it comes to studies that use EEG there is always a question of who the participants. Why is this the case you may ask? EEG use electrode that are attached to scalp. Now, the researchers will get better data is the electrode is directly on the scalp and thin hair isn’t going to affect the readings either. If we look at the sample in the study, the researchers do mention demographic of the participants. But when Jasmine Kwasa came and spoke about her research, she mentioned this concern as well. It is known that African American’s have thicker and coarser hair which makes if difficult to do EEG studies one this group of people. This is a problem because we are excluding African Americans from the studies and therefore the results would not be generalizable to the population. In research, this called a threat to external validity. Kwasa mentioned how there needs to be changes made to EEGs so that people with this kind of hair came participate in these types of studies.

There was an article written by Danielle Nadin on May 5^th, 2020. She writes about undergraduate Arnelle Etienne from Carnegie Mello in Pittsburg studying electrical and computer engineering She addresses this problem directly. It is not the person’s fault for having this type of hair, but the problem is that EEGs are not built for this hair type. She became aware of this problem when she found information about epileptic patients who were forces to style their hair in a way it was damaged or shave parts of there hair. Since electrode need to be place on certain areas on the scalp, she realized that cornrows were a way to expose the scalp in people with this kind of hair. This is less harmful and allows for easy placement on the scalp. Along with this hairstyle Etienne designed clips that fit between the braid and make it easier to place the electrode. Some braids are thicker than others, so Etienne needed to design different clip sizes and shape and make sure that they are reusable.

Now that a method was designed to record EEG data for people with coarse think hair, they can now be included in EEG studies. The data from the participants in the study will now allow results to generalizable to all demographics and the entire population making the data stronger. With this implication of hair style and clip shaped electrodes, better care can now be provided for people in this demographic since there is increased electrode to skin contact that leads to better and clearer results. In relation to the study of top-down attention in neurotypical and ADHD participants researchers are able to repeat the study using people with this previously difficult hair type to see similarities and differences from this one already published.

References

Kwasa, J.A.C., Noyce A.L., Torres L.M., Shinn-Cunningham B.G., "Top-Down Attention Modulates Auditory-Evoked Neural Responses in Neurotypical, but not ADHD, young adults."  bioRxiv. Feb. 12 2021.

Nadin D. "EEG Research is Racially Biased, so Undergrad Scientists Designed New Elecrodes to Fix It." Massive Science. May 5 2020.

Jasmine A. C. Kwasa1,2, Abigail L. Noyce2,3, Laura M.Torres4,Barbara G. Shinn-Cunningham

Jasmine A. C. Kwasa1,2, Abigail L. Noyce2,3, Laura M.Torres4,Barbara G. Shinn-Cunningham