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Event Related Potentials (ERPs) and other EEG Based Methods for Extracting Biomarkers of Brain Dysfunction: Examples from Pediatric Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
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Event Related Potentials (ERPs) and other EEG Based Methods for Extracting Biomarkers of Brain Dysfunction: Examples from Pediatric Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Published on: March 12, 2020

Methylphenidate normalises activation and functional connectivity deficits in attention and motivation networks in

Katya Rubia1, Rozmin Halari, Ana Cubillo

  • 1Department of Child Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, London, UK. k.rubia@iop.kcl.ac.uk

Neuropharmacology
|September 1, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Methylphenidate (MPH) improved attention and motivation in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This study used fMRI to show MPH normalized brain network activity related to attention and reward processing in children with ADHD.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Pediatric Psychiatry
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) exhibit motivational and attentional deficits.
  • Methylphenidate (MPH), a dopamine agonist, can ameliorate these deficits.
  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is used to investigate MPH's effects on neural networks.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the effects of MPH on brain activation and functional connectivity in medication-naïve children with ADHD.
  • To examine the modulation of "cool" attentional and "hot" motivational networks by MPH.
  • To assess the normalizing effects of MPH on neuro-functional differences compared to healthy controls.

Main Methods:

  • A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study involving 13 medication-naïve children with ADHD.
  • Participants underwent fMRI scans while performing a rewarded continuous performance task.
  • Brain activity and connectivity were compared between MPH and placebo conditions, and with 13 healthy controls.

Main Results:

  • MPH normalized performance deficits in children with ADHD compared to controls.
  • Children with ADHD showed altered activation and connectivity in fronto-striatal-parietal-cerebellar networks and orbitofrontal cortex.
  • MPH enhanced activation in fronto-striatal-cerebellar and parieto-temporal regions, normalizing attention-related network differences and reducing hyper-sensitive reward processing.

Conclusions:

  • MPH normalizes attentional network dysfunction in children with ADHD by up-regulating fronto-striato-thalamo-cerebellar and parieto-temporal networks.
  • MPH down-regulates hyper-sensitive orbitofrontal activation related to reward processing.
  • MPH demonstrates context-dependent modulation of motivational and attentional neuro-functional networks in pediatric ADHD.
Abstract

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