Abstract

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd) is a neu-rological disorder that affects child and adult develop-ment. It is characterized by the presence of significant difficulties in terms of attention and hyperactivity/impul-sivity. adhd has a high impact on academic and social activities that require sustained mental effort and an adequate level of impulse control. In Chile, adhd is the most frequent mental health problem in children and adolescents who are in school. adhd has been associated with a deterioration of executive functions, especially in attention and inhibition. Research has shown the role of working memory and cognitive flexibility in the functioning of subjects with adhd; however, there is no consensus regarding the difficulties that these functions would present in the different subtypes of adhd. The objective of this work was to study the performance of working memory and cognitive flexibility in students with typical development and with adhd, categorized in the three known subtypes. A neuropsychology battery was applied to 85 students diagnosed with adhd. The results showed that working memory is altered in the inattentive and combined subtypes, but not in the hyperactive/impulsive subtype; the performance in cognitive flexibility would not allow distinguishing subjects with and without adhd.