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Brain Function Characteristics of Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Aged 4-9 Years During a
Zhijun Cui1, Aimin Liang1, Hongmei Huang1
1Children's Health Care Center, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children's Health, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Insights
Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) show prefrontal brain abnormalities and altered connectivity, even in early development. These findings highlight the importance of the prefrontal cortex in ADHD.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder.
- Abnormal cerebral activity is noted in adolescents and adults with ADHD.
- Executive function develops throughout childhood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if early-stage executive function development in children with ADHD shows abnormal cerebral activity.
- To determine if prefrontal cortex (PFC) abnormalities are present in young children with ADHD.
Main Methods:
- 52 children with ADHD (4-9 years) and 34 controls participated.
- Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) measured oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) changes during GO/NOGO tasks.
- Brain activation and connectivity were assessed using functional connectivity analysis.
Main Results:
- Children with ADHD exhibited a significant prefrontal activation deficit during the GO/NOGO tasks (p < 0.05).
- Hyperconnectivity between the motor area and PFC was observed in children with ADHD (p < 0.01).
- A logistic regression model using these brain features achieved high diagnostic accuracy (AUC = 0.86).
Conclusions:
- Prefrontal region abnormalities are evident in children with ADHD during early development.
- Targeting the PFC in interventions is crucial for ADHD.
- Multi-network coordination plays a role in ADHD-related brain abnormalities.
Purpose:
This study investigated whether abnormal cerebral activity observed in adolescents and adults with ADHD also occurs in children during the early developmental stages of executive function.
Methods:
The study included 52 children with ADHD aged 4.0-9.0 years and 34 healthy control children. Changes in oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) levels were measured while participants completed GO/NOGO tasks to assess brain activation and connectivity.
Results:
Children with ADHD demonstrated a stable prefrontal activation deficit during the GO/NOGO tasks (p FDR < 0.05). Additionally, hyperconnectivity was observed between the motor area and the prefrontal lobe in these children (uncorrected p <0.01). The logistic regression model incorporating brain activation and connectivity features achieved an area under the ROC curve of 0.86 (95% CI, [0.78, 0.95]), with a sensitivity of 0.79 and specificity of 0.85.
Conclusion:
The findings suggest that prefrontal region abnormalities are present in children with ADHD at early developmental stages. This underscores the importance of targeting the prefrontal cortex in interventions and highlights the role of multi-network coordination in ADHD-related brain abnormalities. Limitations include the cross-sectional design and relatively small sample size, which should be addressed in future longitudinal studies.
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