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Published on: August 5, 2017
Distinct Resting-State Functional Connectivity Profiles in ADHD with and without Prenatal Alcohol Exposure
Aim:
To determine whether the neural phenotype (whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity pattern) of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder associated with prenatal alcohol exposure (ADHD-PAE) differs from that in unexposed children with ADHD of probable familial origin (ADHD-PAE).
Method:
Resting-state functional MRI was acquired from 26 children with ADHD+PAE, 25 with ADHD-PAE and 25 typically developing (TD) children, all aged 8-13 years. Mean connectivity matrices based on the Cole-Anticevic Brainwide Network Parcellation of the brain were compared between the groups.
Results:
Within the frontoparietal network (FPN), children with ADHD+PAE showed widespread lower group-mean connectivity than children with ADHD-PAE; effects were concentrated primarily in cerebellar-cerebral cortical and cerebral cortical-cerebral cortical connections. Children with ADHD-PAE showed widespread hyperconnectivity relative to TD children. Children with ADHD+PAE showed mixed hyper- and hypoconnectivity relative to TD.
Interpretation:
These results are consistent with other MRI findings indicating that ADHD+PAE is neurally distinct from ADHD-PAE; PAE may be associated with broadly reduced connectivity, especially across cerebellar-cerebral cortical systems.
