The Relationship Between Inhibitory Control of Attention and fMRI Functional Connectivity in Children With and...

Attention abilities can be represented within the population as a spectrum from low to high ability. Attention deficits are present in a number of neurodevelopmental disorders, including as a primary symptom of ADHD. When evaluating the relationship between brain networks and attention abilities, it is important to know whether this relationship is mediated by diagnosis to understand processes that contribute to disability and to determine if attention can appropriately be studied transdiagnostically. Functional connectivity (FC) within the brain has been studied in association with inhibitory attention and ADHD diagnosis separately, but it is unclear whether the relationship between inhibitory attention and FC is altered in individuals with ADHD.

We evaluated whether the relationship between inhibitory attention, as measured by the Flanker Inhibitory Control and Attention test, and FC was impacted by ADHD diagnostic status in children age 9 to 10 using the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) database.

We found that, although there were significant associations between FC and both ADHD diagnosis and attention, the interaction between attention and diagnostic group was not significantly associated with functional connectivity.

These results support that the relationship between attention and FC is not mediated by ADHD diagnosis and thus provides evidence for a transdiagnostic-dimensional relationship between FC and inhibitory attention.