Functional MRI compliance in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Pediatric Psychiatry
• Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a valuable tool for studying brain function in children.
• Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may exhibit challenges with fMRI compliance.
• State anxiety has been hypothesized to influence fMRI compliance in pediatric populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of prescan training and orientation on fMRI compliance in children with ADHD.
• To determine if state anxiety affects fMRI compliance in children with ADHD.
• To compare fMRI compliance between children with ADHD and healthy controls.

Main Methods:

• Seventy-seven male children (6-12 years), including 53 with ADHD and 24 controls, participated.
• Participants underwent individual prescan orientation and training before fMRI acquisition on a 1.5 Tesla scanner.
• A standard neurocognitive task was employed during functional scanning, with compliance assessed via success, failure, and repetition rates.

Main Results:

• The neurocognitive task yielded reliable fMRI data in all participants.
• No significant differences in fMRI compliance rates were observed between the ADHD and control groups.
• fMRI compliance in ADHD patients with high anxiety levels was comparable to those with lower anxiety.

Conclusions:

• Prescan training and orientation effectively enhance fMRI compliance in children with ADHD to levels seen in healthy controls.
• Addressing procedural concerns and providing training mitigates potential compliance issues in pediatric fMRI.
• The study suggests that state anxiety does not significantly impact fMRI compliance in trained ADHD children, challenging the anxiety hypothesis.