Altered Functional Connectivity in Children with ADHD Revealed by Scalp EEG: An ERP Study
Chunli Chen1, Huan Yang2,3,4,5,6, Yasong Du7
1School of Life Science and Technology, Center for Information in Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China.
Insights
This study reveals distinct electrophysiological differences in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) during an oddball task. ADHD children showed altered brain network connectivity and reduced early-stage attention-related brain responses compared to healthy controls.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent childhood neurodevelopmental disorder.
- The precise neurobiological mechanisms underlying ADHD remain incompletely understood.
- Deficits in attention are a hallmark symptom of ADHD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate electrophysiological differences in brain activity and networks in children with ADHD during an oddball P3 task.
- To explore the neurobiological underpinnings of attentional deficits in ADHD.
- To compare event-related potentials (ERPs) and brain network connectivity between ADHD children and healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- Collected electroencephalogram (EEG) data from children with ADHD and healthy controls (HCs) during an oddball P3 task.
- Analyzed event-related potentials (ERPs), specifically P2 and N2 amplitudes.
- Investigated brain network connectivity, including cortical activity and long-range connections.
Main Results:
- No significant behavioral differences were observed between ADHD children and HCs.
- Significant electrophysiological differences were found in both ERPs and brain networks.
- ADHD children exhibited reduced P2 and N2 amplitudes, indicating early-stage attentional dysfunction.
- Cortical activity was weaker in temporal and frontal regions in ADHD children compared to HCs.
- Atypical brain network connectivity in ADHD included enhanced frontal-occipital connectivity and attenuated frontal-parietal-temporal connectivity.
Conclusions:
- Electrophysiological measures reveal significant differences in brain function and network organization in children with ADHD, even without behavioral deficits.
- Early-stage attentional processing and information interaction appear atypical in ADHD.
- Findings provide insights into the neurobiological basis of cognitive processing in childhood ADHD.
Abstract:
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental brain disorders in childhood. Despite extensive researches, the neurobiological mechanism underlying ADHD is still left unveiled. Since the deficit functions, such as attention, have been demonstrated in ADHD, in our present study, based on the oddball P3 task, the corresponding electroencephalogram (EEG) of both healthy controls (HCs) and ADHD children was first collected. And we then not only focused on the event-related potential (ERP) evoked during tasks but also investigated related brain networks. Although an insignificant difference in behavior was found between the HCs and ADHD children, significant electrophysiological differences were found in both ERPs and brain networks. In detail, the dysfunctional attention occurred during the early stage of the designed task; as compared to HCs, the reduced P2 and N2 amplitudes in ADHD children were found, and the atypical information interaction might further underpin such a deficit. On the one hand, when investigating the cortical activity, HCs recruited much stronger brain activity mainly in the temporal and frontal regions, compared to ADHD children; on the other hand, the brain network showed atypical enhanced long-range connectivity between the frontal and occipital lobes but attenuated connectivity among frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes in ADHD children. We hope that the findings in this study may be instructive for the understanding of cognitive processing in children with ADHD.
