Brain alterations in children/adolescents with ADHD revisited: A neuroimaging meta-analysis of 96 structural and functional studies

• Published in: Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews Vol. 100; pp. 1 - 8
• Main Authors: Samea, Fateme, Soluki, Solmaz, Nejati, Vahid, Zarei, Mojtaba, Cortese, Samuele, Eickhoff, Simon B., Tahmasian, Masoud, Eickhoff, Claudia R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2019
• Subjects: Activation likelihood estimation; ADHD; Adolescent; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - diagnostic imaging; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - pathology; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - physiopathology; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - pathology; Brain - physiopathology; Brain Mapping; Child; Coordinate-based meta-analysis; fMRI; Humans; Likelihood Functions; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; VBM; VBM; ADHD; fMRI; Activation likelihood estimation; Coordinate-based meta-analysis
• ISSN: 0149-7634; 1873-7528; 1873-7528
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.02.011

•We found no significant convergent structural or functional alterations in children/adolescent with ADHD in the main analysis.•We observed the convergence dysfunction for task-fMRI experiments (using neutral stimuli) in the left pallidum/putamen and decreased activity (using male subjects) in the left IFG.•The observed inconsistency might be due to heterogeneous clinical populations, in-/exclusion criteria, experimental design, preprocessing, statistical procedures in individual publications.•This study highlights the need for further exploration in homogenous clinical samples to unravel the relation between abnormal regional effects and disturbed integration in children/adolescents with ADHD. The findings of neuroimaging studies in children/adolescents with ADHD, and even those of previous meta-analyses, are divergent. Here, Activation Likelihood Estimation meta-analysis, following the current best-practice guidelines, was conducted. We searched multiple databases and traced the references up to June 2018. Then, we extracted the reported coordinates reflecting group comparison between ADHD and healthy subjects from 96 eligible studies, containing 1914 unique participants. The analysis of pooled structural and functional, sub-analyses restricted to modality, and in-/decreased contrast did not yield any significant findings. However, further sub-analyses in the task-fMRI experiments (neutral stimuli only) led to aberrant activity in the left pallidum/putamen and decreased activity (male subjects only) in the left inferior frontal gyrus. The overall findings indicate a lack of regional convergence in children/adolescents with ADHD, which might be due to heterogeneous clinical populations, various experimental design, preprocessing, statistical procedures in individual publications. Our results highlight the need for further high-powered investigations, but may also indicate ADHD pathophysiology might rest in network interactions rather than just regional abnormality.