The effect of emotional processes on the performance of mirror neuron system in people with ADHD traits

Authors
javad afzoon 1
jafar hasani 1
Shahram Mohammadkhani 1
vida Oshrieh 2
farzaneh vatankhah 3
1 Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran
3 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Alzagra University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Introduction

Mirror neurons play an important role in the understanding of emotional functions. On the other hand, ADHD people are having difficulty understanding both emotional aspects. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the emotional processes on the functioning of the mirror neuron system in people with ADHD traits.

Materials and Methods

At first, 500 students of Kharazmi University of Tehran were randomly selected and They were screened by Adult Barclay's ADHD scoring scale and Then 15 people who had a standard z score equal to or higher than +1.5 were selected as the sample group Then, an interview was conducted based on DSM-5 criteria and ensured the presence of ADHD symptoms in these people. And these people together with 15 normal students formed the sample size of the research Then the activity of neurons was measured using an EEG device while performing emotional processing tasks. In this study, the data collected after registration, with an alpha level of 0.05 in SPSS 21 software based on descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, minimum, maximum) and inferential (multivariate analysis of variance, univariate analysis of variance) were analyzed.

Results

The results of this study showed that the activity of the mirror neurons system during emotional tasks is lower in people with ADHD than in normal people.

Conclusion

The results of this study suggest that mirror neurons should be considered as an important factor in the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD disorder.
Keywords
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Mirror Neurons
Emotional Processing
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