COMPLEXITY AND MEMORY-BASED COMPARISON OF THE BRAIN ACTIVITY BETWEEN ADHD AND HEALTHY SUBJECTS WHILE PLAYING A SERIOUS GAME

Abstract

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a mental health disorder that is very common among children and may last into their adulthood. It is known that ADHD affects the attention of patients due to problems with short-term memory. Therefore, analysis of attention and memory of these patients should come into consideration. In this study, the complexity and memory of Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals are analyzed to investigate the reduction in attention and memory of patients with ADHD compared to normal subjects while playing a serious game. To achieve this, the fractal dimension and sample entropy of EEG signals are analyzed to evaluate the alterations in the complexity of EEG signals. Moreover, the Hurst exponent of EEG signals for ADHD and non-ADHD subjects is calculated to discuss the memory of EEG signals. The results showed a smaller fractal dimension and sample entropy of EEG signals for patients with ADHD that reflects their lower attention. Besides, the Hurst exponent of EEG signals for these patients reflects their lower memory than normal subjects. Therefore, it can be concluded that the reductions of attention and memory in ADHD subjects are mapped on the reduction of complexity and memory of their EEG signals.