Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Apr;14(2):153-157.
doi: 10.3988/jcn.2018.14.2.153.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Neurofibromatosis Type 1: Evaluation with a Continuous Performance Test

Rony Cohen #  1   2   3 , Ayelet Halevy #  2   4 , Sharon Aharon  2   4 , Avinoam Shuper  1   2   4
Affiliations

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Neurofibromatosis Type 1: Evaluation with a Continuous Performance Test

Rony Cohen et al. J Clin Neurol. 2018 Apr.

Abstract

Background and purpose: The objective of this study was to determine if the MOXO visual- and vocal-distractors-based continuous performance test distinguishes patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) from those without NF1.

Methods: Thirty-five patients (16 males; mean age 9.91 years) attending a multidisciplinary NF1 clinic completed the MOXO test. The findings were compared to 532 healthy age-matched standardized control subjects (285 males) without ADHD.

Results: The overall performance in the MOXO text was significantly worse in the NF1 group than in controls (p<0.01), but no group-specific pattern was identified. Impulsivity and hyperactivity were significantly more prominent in males than females (p<0.01). Compared to controls, the NF1 group exhibited significantly more failures to respond to target stimuli in the presence of visual distractors.

Conclusions: MOXO scores are abnormal in patients with NF1, but the test cannot differentiate between NF1 with ADHD characteristics and ADHD. The test highlights sex differences in ADHD characteristics in NF1. Overreactivity to visual distractors may form part of the attention deficit in NF1.

Keywords: MOXO; attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; continuous performance test; neurofibromatosis type 1.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no financial conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Percentage of neurofibromatosis type 1 patients with z-scores of ≤1.65 according to age. A: attention, H: hyperactivity, I: impulsivity, T: timing.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Williams VC, Lucas J, Babcock MA, Gutmann DH, Korf B, Maria BL. Neurofibromatosis type 1 revisited. Pediatrics. 2009;123:124–133. - PubMed
    1. Rauen KA. The RASopathies. Annu Rev Genomics Hum Genet. 2013;14:355–369. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Acosta MT, Bearden CE, Castellanos FX, Cutting L, Elgersma Y, Gioia G, et al. The Learning Disabilities Network (LeaDNet): using neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) as a paradigm for translational research. Am J Med Genet A. 2012;158A:2225–2232. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Payne JM, Hyman SL, Shores EA, North KN. Assessment of executive function and attention in children with neurofibromatosis type 1: relationships between cognitive measures and real-world behavior. Child Neuropsychol. 2011;17:313–329. - PubMed
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US) Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) [Internet] Atlanta (GA): CDC/National Center for Health Statistics; 2017. [cited 2018 Feb]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/adhd.htm.