Investigation of phase synchronization in functional brain networks of children with ADHD using nonlinear recurrence
Sheida Ansarinasab1, Farnaz Ghassemi1, Zahra Tabanfar1
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran polytechnic), Iran.
Insights
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) involves altered brain network synchronization. This study reveals hyper-synchronization in ADHD individuals, impacting emotional and visual processing, suggesting new diagnostic approaches.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Complex Systems
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Altered brain functional connectivity is implicated in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
- Emotional processing deficits are a key challenge for children with ADHD, affecting social interactions.
- Investigating brain network dynamics offers insights into ADHD pathophysiology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To apply the nonlinear Correlation between Probability of Recurrences (CPR) method for the first time to construct and analyze functional brain networks in ADHD.
- To compare topological features of brain networks between boys with ADHD and healthy controls.
- To explore alterations in information exchange and synchronization in ADHD brain networks.
Main Methods:
- Functional brain networks were constructed using the nonlinear CPR method for 22 boys with ADHD and 22 healthy controls.
- Participants viewed four types of visual-emotional stimuli.
- Network topological features, including shortest path length and clustering coefficient, were analyzed.
Main Results:
- ADHD individuals exhibited significantly higher average clustering coefficients and shorter shortest path lengths compared to healthy controls (P < 0.01).
- Brain networks in ADHD showed abnormally increased information exchange at both local and global scales, indicating hyper-synchronization.
- Topological alterations were prominent in the frontal and occipital lobes, suggesting impaired emotional and visual processing.
Conclusions:
- The CPR method effectively distinguishes phase interactions in ADHD versus healthy brain networks.
- Findings suggest hyper-synchronization and altered network topology in ADHD, particularly affecting frontal and occipital regions.
- This study contributes to understanding the nonlinear dynamics of brain networks in ADHD and may aid in diagnosis.
Abstract:
Measuring the phase synchronization between different brain regions in functional brain networks is a common approach to investigate many psychological disorders such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The emotional processing deficit in ADHD children is one of the main obstacles in their social interactions. In this study, the nonlinear Correlation between Probability of Recurrences (CPR) method is used for the first time to construct functional brain networks of 22 boys with ADHD and 22 healthy ones during watching four visual-emotional stimuli types. Topological features of brain networks, including shortest path length, clustering coefficient, and nodes strengths, are investigated in groups of ADHD and healthy. The results indicate a significantly (P-Values < 0.01) greater average clustering coefficient and lower shortest path length in the brain networks of ADHD individuals than the healthy ones. Accordingly, in the ADHD brain networks, the information exchange in both local and global scales is abnormally more than the healthy ones, leading to a hyper-synchronization in this group. The topological alterations of ADHD brain networks are mainly observed in the brain's frontal and occipital lobes, indicating impaired brain function of this group in emotional and visual processing. This survey demonstrates that the CPR method can be a good candidate for distinguishing the phase interactions of ADHD and healthy brain networks. Therefore, this study can contribute to further insights into the nonlinear dynamics analysis of brain networks in ADHD individuals.
