Inhibitory function and sustained attention following galvanic vestibular stimulation in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Background and Aim: In recent years, galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) has been used as an effective method in rehabilitation and treat­ment of psychological disorders in children and adults. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of GVS on response inhibition and susta­ined attention in children with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods: Seventeen children with ADHD, within the age range of 9−12 years, participated in this study. All participants were exposed to the go/no-go task. The behavioral outcomes and event-related potentials were recorded at baseline status, in sham condition, and after 20 minutes of exposure to GVS polarities, with an anode on the right mastoid region and a cathode on the left mastoid region. Results: The results showed that there was a sig­nificant difference in reducing the behavioral response of the commission error (p < 0.05). But the reduction in behavioral responses to omission error and reaction time were not significant (p > 0.05). However, regarding ERPs, reduced latencies and increased amplitudes of N2 and P3 waves were observed in GVS intervention, com­pared to the baseline and sham conditions (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The present results indicated the potential of GVS in improving of cognition func­tion in children with ADHD and could help us develop a new strategy for rehabilitation of res­ponse inhibition disorders in the future. Keywords: Galvanic vestibular stimulation; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; go/no-go task; event-related potentials; motor control