The top-class Journal Biological Psychiatry has accepted an article from Fernando Cross-Villasana, a staff member of the Chair for Sport Psychology under Full Prof. Dr. Jürgen Beckmann. The article entitled "The Speed of Visual Attention and Motor-Response Decisions in Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder" will be published in the June issue.
Impact - Factor 9.472
"The publication in Biological Psychiatry is very unusual for our field of research, since the journal is not necessarily open for psychological topics, but is instead for the field of psychiatrics," says Prof. Beckmann. With an impact factor of 9.472, Biological Psychiatry is one of the most influential publications in the field of psychiatrics and the neurosciences. In 2013, Thomson Reuters listed the international journal as No. 5 from 135 psychiatric publications and as No. 14 from the 251 titles on the topic of the neurosciences. The paper from Cross-Villasana, a doctoral candidate at the Faculty for Sport and Health Sciences, was derived from his master's thesis at the Munich Ludwigs-Maximilian University, supported by Dr. Thomas Töllner, Dr. Kathrin Finke and Dr. Beate Killian, who organized the experiment.
Electroencephalography with adult ADHD patients and a control group
Cross-Villasana analyzed whether or not 15 adult test subjects with attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) differed significantly from participants in a control group of the same size. Both groups were examined using electroencephalography (EEG). Here, the electrical activity of the brain is measured on the surface of the skull through voltage fluctuations.
Compared are the times for the velocity of visual attention, as well the time for decision making and a subsequent motor process. "To date there have been no studies that take these three processes - that is visual aspects, decision making and motor processes - into account at the same time. We wanted to do so especially in regard to the diagnosis of ADHD," explains Cross-Villasana.
New possibilities for diagnosing ADHD
"Worldwide, ADHD is being ever more frequently diagnosed," explains Beckmann. Especially children are frequently pushed "into the corner representative for ADHD," according to the qualified psychologist. "However, the question remains as to how one can validate whether this illness is actually present - or if the symptoms might possibly be in the normal range." A biological measurement for ADHD has not been available thus far, according to Cross-Villasana.
The results from the Mexican could open new diagnostic pathways. "We were able to show that there are two different processes responsible for the delayed reaction time in patients with ADHD," summarizes Cross-Villasana. Hereby, it has already been possible to exclude a number of faulty diagnoses. In a next step, the results could be substantiated through further studies and a standardized test and diagnostic procedure could be developed.
A great circulation throughout the scientific community is by all means guaranteed through the publication in this top-class journal.
To the Homepage of the Chair for Sport Psychology
To the Paper in the Journal of Biological Psychiatry
Contact:
Fernando Cross-Villasana
Chair for Sport Psychology
Uptown Munich, Campus D
Georg-Brauchle Ring 60/62
80992 Munich
Telephone: 089/289 24536
Email: Fernando.cross(at)tum.de