The trail making test parts A and B were administered and the set-shifting score was calculated following Stuss et al. (2001) with the equation (log(Timing B − Timing A)/Timing A). High set-shifting scores are a measure for deficits in attentional set-shifting. The n-back task ( Kirchner, 1958) is a continuous working memory task that requires subjects to indicate whether the current letter matches the one from n (usually 1–3) steps earlier. We used an in-house
version of the task visualizing a worm and an apple with 4 holes from which the worm could occur. The task included 2 blocks of 20 trials per n-back condition (0-, 1-, and 2-back) and participants had to point out the location from where the worm appeared immediately, 1, or 2 steps earlier. The primary outcome measure was accuracy per condition, with more mistakes showing this website more important working memory deficits. The Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS-11; Patton et al., 1995) is a self-report questionnaire and was used to assess (9 aspects of) subjective impulsivity. The ADHD Symptom Rating Scale (ASRS; Kooij et al., 2005) was used as a severity indicator of self-reported (current) ADHD symptoms in adulthood. All dependent variables (cognitive tasks and self-report questionnaires) were checked for normality of their distribution using Shapiro–Wilk normality tests. In normally distributed data, one-way ANOVAs were performed
to assess Ruxolitinib mouse group differences related to task performance and self-report questionnaire scores, followed
corepressor by post hoc Bonferroni testing when the ANOVA revealed a significant group effect. When variables were not normally distributed, a logarithmic transformation was used for further analysis, or a non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis test was used to identify statistical differences between variables of independent samples that were not transformed (e.g., performance accuracy data). Correlations are described using Pearson’s correlation coefficients. A significance level of 0.05 was used as statistically significant for all statistical tests and all data are presented as means ± standard deviation. All clinical characteristics were normally distributed (Shapiro–Wilk tests P > 0.05) and means and standard deviations are presented in Table 1. Groups (HC, ADHD and ADHD + COC) did not differ significantly in age or IQ. Regarding ADHD subtypes, the ADHD group mainly consisted of combined and inattentive subtypes (100%), while the ADHD + COC group included mainly hyperactive and combined subtypes (91%). ADHD + COC and HC groups contained more smokers (ADHD + COC 64%; HC 59%) than the ADHD group (41%) but this difference was not statistically significant. Also, the amount of cigarettes smoked did not differ between groups (P = 0.052), but ADHD + COC had statistically significantly higher FTND scores, indicating more severe nicotine dependence compared to both ADHD and HC groups (P = 0.001).