ADHD - Psychophysiology Research Group
The Psychophysiology Research Group at the School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, are conducting a series of investigations into brain functioning in children.
Specifically, we are interested in:
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The development of brain functioning in children
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Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD)
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Response Inhibition and arousal
Our primary aim is to better understand the deficiencies underlying impulsive behaviour and inattentive behaviour displayed by individuals with AD/HD.
Through electrophysiological investigations (i.e. recording the electrical activity that is produced by the firing of neurons in the brain) we can determine how brain activation patterns in AD/HD differ from healthy populations. Specifically, this will allow an insight into affected brain regions by revealing the site of the such problems, and whether deficiencies are due to weak and/or slow activation of neural processes.
Currently there are a number of ongoing long-term projects:
- Attentional and inhibitory processes in non-clinical children and adults
- Developmental studies of attentional and inhibitory processes
- Basic research into the nature and determinants of event-related brain potentials and EEG.
The research that our group has conducted to date has been published in top scientific journals and represents the largest number of publications in the area anywhere in the world.
Find out more about participating in our research. |
Find out more about our Electrophysiology of the Brain research.

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AD/HD Links
Recent AD/HD publications by our group
Barry, R. J., Clarke, A. R., McCarthy, R., Selikowitz, M., Johnstone, S., Hsu, C, Bond, D., Wallace., M. J. Magee, C. A. (In Press). Age and Gender Effects in EEG Coherence: II. Boys with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Clinical Neurophysiology.
Barry, R. J., Clarke, A. R., McCarthy, R., Selikowitz, M., Johnstone, S. J., Rushby, J. A. (2004). Age and Gender Effects in EEG Coherence: I. Developmental trends in normal children. Clinical Neurophysiology, 115, 2252-2258.
Smith J. L., Johnstone, S. J., Barry, R. J. (2004). Inhibitory processing during the Go/NoGo task: An ERP analysis of children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Clinical Neurophysiology, 115, 1320-1331.
Dimoska, A., Johnstone, S. J., Barry, R. J. and Clarke, A. R. (2003). Inhibitory motor control in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Event-related potential in the stop-signal paradigm. Biological Psychiatry, 54(12), 1340-1349.
Smith, J. L., Johnstone, S. J. and Barry, R. J. (2003). Aiding diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and its subtypes: discriminant function analysis of event-related potential data. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 44, 1067-1065.
Barry, R., Clarke, A., Johnstone, S. J. (2003), A review of electrophysiology in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: I. Qualitative and quantitative electroencephalography, Clinical Neurophysiology, 114, 171-183.
Barry, R., Clarke, A., Johnstone, S. J. (2003), A review of electrophysiology in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: II. Event-related potentials, Clinical Neurophysiology, 114, 184-198.
Adam Clarke, Robert Barry, Rory McCarthy, Mark Selikowitz. 2001, 'Age and sex effects in the EEG: differences in two subtypes of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder', Clinical Neurophysiology, Vol 112, pp.815-82
Adam Clarke, Robert Barry, Rory McCarthy, Mark Selikowitz. 2001, 'Electroencephalogram differences in two subtypes of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder', Psychophysiology, Vol 38, pp.212-221
Adam Clarke, Robert Barry, Rory McCarthy, Mark Selikowitz. 2001, 'Excess beta activity in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: an atypical electrophysiological group', Psychiatry Research, Vol 103, pp.205-218
Adam Clarke, Robert Barry, Rory McCarthy, Mark Selikowitz 2001, 'EEG-defined subtypes of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder', Clinical Neurophysiology, Vol 112, pp.2098-2105
Stuart Johnstone, Robert Barry, Aneta Dimoska, 2003, 'Event-related slow-wave activity in two subtypes of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder', Clinical Neurophysiology, vol 114, pp.504-514
Stuart Johnstone, Robert Barry, John Anderson 2001, 'Topographic distribution and developmental timecourse of auditory event-related potentials in two subtypes of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder', International Journal of Psychophysiology, Vol 42, pp.73-94
Stuart Johnstone, Hilarie Tardif, Robert Barry, Terry Sands 2001, 'Nasal bilevel positive airway pressure therapy in children with a sleep-related breathing disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: effects on electrophysiological measures of brain function', Sleep Medicine, Vol 2, pp.407-416
Susan Bresnahan, J. Anderson, Robert Barry, 1999, 'Age-related changes in quantitative EEG in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder', Biological Psychiatry, Vol 46, pp.1690-1697
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