ADHD symptom trajectories and brain morphometry: A longitudinal analysis

While ADHD symptoms often decline from childhood into adulthood, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms, such as altered brain maturation or neural reorganization, remain incompletely understood. This study investigated how grey matter development relates to ADHD symptom trajectories into adulthood.

We analyzed data of individuals with ADHD and controls from the longitudinal Dutch NeuroIMAGE cohort, utilizing dimensional ADHD symptom scores (Conners Parent Rating Scale) from three waves and T1-weighted structural MRI scans from the final two waves. Using General Linear Models with permutation-based inference, we examined: 1) cross-sectional associations between ADHD symptoms and vertex-wise cortical thickness and surface area, and subcortical volumes at Wave 1 (n=765, mean age =16.95 years); and 2) longitudinal associations between symptom progression and brain morphometric changes (Wave 0 to 1: n=644, mean age=11.55-17.24 years; Wave 1 to 2: n=149, mean age=16.45-20.11 years).

Cross-sectionally, at Wave 1, more ADHD symptoms were related to widespread reductions in surface area, most prominently in the frontal cortex, and smaller volumes of the cerebellum, amygdala, and hippocampus. Longitudinally, symptom improvement from Wave 1 to Wave 2 was associated with stronger reductions in surface area, particularly in prefrontal and occipital regions, and with more pronounced cortical thinning across multiple brain regions.

These findings suggest an association between symptom trajectories and structural brain changes, indicating that clinical improvement in ADHD behaviors might coincide with ongoing neural refinement during the transition to adulthood.