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Updated: May 31, 2026
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Using Brain Activation (nir-HEG/Q-EEG) and Execution Measures (CPTs) in a ADHD Assessment Protocol
Published on: April 1, 2018
ADHD: volumetry, motor, and oculomotor functions
1Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1750 East Fairmount Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA, mahone@kennedykrieger.org.
Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences
|July 7, 2011
Summary
Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show developmental delays in brain regions controlling motor and executive functions. These delays, particularly in the basal ganglia, cerebellum, and cortex, impact cognitive and motor skills, highlighting overlooked clinical connections.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Quantitative neuroimaging, motor, and oculomotor assessments are increasingly used to study ADHD in children.
- Evidence links anomalous basal ganglia development to early ADHD, with additional cerebellar and cortical delays associated with the behavioral phenotype.
- Motor and executive control systems in ADHD exhibit parallel, protracted developmental trajectories, maturing into young adulthood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between neuroimaging findings and motor/oculomotor assessments in children with ADHD.
- To explore the parallel development of motor and executive control systems in ADHD.
- To highlight the clinical relevance of motor and oculomotor anomalies in ADHD.
Main Methods:
- Quantitative neuroimaging (volumetry) to assess brain development.
- Motor and oculomotor assessments to evaluate behavioral phenotypes.
- Analysis of parallel developmental trajectories in motor and executive control systems.
Main Results:
- Anomalous basal ganglia development is implicated in early ADHD.
- Widespread cerebellar and cortical delays correlate with cognitive, motor, and oculomotor deficits in ADHD.
- Volumetric differences and parallel development predict motor and oculomotor anomalies in ADHD.
Conclusions:
- Shared neural circuitry, including frontostriatal systems and the cerebellum, underlies motor and executive control in ADHD.
- Motor and oculomotor paradigms offer insights into executive function at the interface of movement and cognition.
- Motor and oculomotor anomalies in ADHD are significant yet often overlooked in clinical practice.
