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Right parietal dysfunction in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, combined type: a functional MRI
1Academic Child Psychiatry Unit, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Royal Children's Hospital, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia. avance@unimelb.edu.au
Insights
Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, combined type (ADHD-CT) exhibit reduced brain activation in key areas during spatial tasks. This finding suggests a developmental deficit independent of age in ADHD-CT.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, combined type (ADHD-CT) is linked to spatial working memory impairments.
- Neural circuit dysfunction in right prefrontal, striatal, and parietal regions is implicated in these deficits.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if decreased neural activation in right prefrontal, striatal, and parietal regions during a mental rotation task, observed in adolescents with ADHD-CT, is also present in children with ADHD-CT.
- To confirm previous findings of striatal-parietal dysfunction in ADHD-CT across different developmental stages.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 12 pre-pubertal boys (8-12 years) with ADHD-CT and 12 age- and IQ-matched healthy controls.
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used while participants performed a mental rotation task assessing spatial working memory.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in task accuracy or response times were found between the ADHD-CT group and controls.
- The ADHD-CT group demonstrated significantly reduced activation in right parieto-occipital areas (cuneus, precuneus, BA 19), the right inferior parietal lobe (BA 40), and the right caudate nucleus.
Conclusions:
- Findings in children with ADHD-CT corroborate previous observations of right striatal-parietal dysfunction in adolescents.
- This widespread dysfunction suggests a maturational deficit in ADHD-CT that may be independent of developmental stage.
Abstract:
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, combined type (ADHD-CT) is associated with spatial working memory deficits. These deficits are known to be subserved by dysfunction of neural circuits involving right prefrontal, striatal and parietal brain regions. This study determines whether decreased right prefrontal, striatal and parietal activation with a mental rotation task shown in adolescents with ADHD-CT is also evident in children with ADHD-CT. A cross-sectional study of 12 pre-pubertal, right-handed, 8-12-year-old boys with ADHD-CT and 12 pre-pubertal, right-handed, performance IQ-matched, 8-12-year-old healthy boys, recruited from local primary schools, was completed. Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a mental rotation task that requires spatial working memory. The two groups did not differ in their accuracy or response times for the mental rotation task. The ADHD-CT group showed significantly less activation in right parieto-occipital areas (cuneus and precuneus, BA 19), the right inferior parietal lobe (BA 40) and the right caudate nucleus. Our findings with a child cohort confirm previous reports of right striatal-parietal dysfunction in adolescents with ADHD-CT. This dysfunction suggests a widespread maturational deficit that may be developmental stage independent.
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