Impairment of fronto-striatal and parietal cerebral networks correlates with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) psychopathology in adults — A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study

• Published in: Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging Vol. 183; no. 1; pp. 75 - 84
• Main Authors: Schneider, Marc F, Krick, Christoph M, Retz, Wolfgang, Hengesch, Georges, Retz-Junginger, Petra, Reith, Wolfgang, Rösler, Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier Ireland Ltd 30.07.2010
• Subjects: Adult; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - pathology; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); Attention networks; Brain Mapping; Choice Behavior - physiology; Continuous performance test (CPT); Corpus Striatum - blood supply; Corpus Striatum - pathology; Female; Frontal Lobe - blood supply; Frontal Lobe - pathology; Functional Laterality - physiology; Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI); Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted - methods; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Middle Aged; Neural Pathways - blood supply; Neural Pathways - pathology; Parietal Lobe - blood supply; Parietal Lobe - pathology; Psychiatry; Radiology; Statistics as Topic; Young Adult; Continuous performance test (CPT); Adult; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); Attention networks; Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
• ISSN: 0925-4927; 1872-7506
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2010.04.005

Abstract Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common, genetically transmitted common childhood-onset disorder with a high rate of persistence in adulthood. Although many studies have shown anatomical and functional abnormalities in children and adolescents, studies with adult patients are rare. Nineteen adults with ADHD (11 ADHD, combined type; 8 ADHD, partially remitted) and 17 controls were included in this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. Brain activation was investigated with a continuous performance test (CPT). Impaired activation of a fronto-striatal and a parietal attentional network was observed during the NoGo condition in ADHD subjects. Correlations of reduced activity of the caudate nuclei, the anterior cingulate cortex, and parietal cortical structures, as well as increased activity in the insular cortex, with inattention and impulsivity symptom scores were found. The activation patterns were similar to those known from children and adolescents with ADHD. In conclusion we found not only a widespread dysfunction of brain regions that are involved in cognitive processing in adults with ADHD compared with controls, but also correlations between symptom severity and dysfunction of neuronal systems across adult subjects with a history of ADHD in childhood but whose symptoms did (persistent ADHD) and did not (not persistent ADHD) qualify for a full diagnosis of ADHD in adulthood.