Elsevier

Biological Psychiatry

Volume 68, Issue 12, 15 December 2010, Pages 1084-1091
Biological Psychiatry

Archival Report
Atypical Default Network Connectivity in Youth with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.07.003Get rights and content

Background

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a major public health concern. It has been suggested that the brain's default network may provide a crucial avenue for understanding the neurobiology of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Evaluations of the default network have increased over recent years with the applied technique of resting-state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fcMRI). These investigations have established that spontaneous activity in this network is highly correlated at rest in young adult populations. This coherence seems to be reduced in adults with ADHD. This is an intriguing finding, as coherence in spontaneous activity within the default network strengthens with age. Thus, the pathophysiology of ADHD might include delayed or disrupted maturation of the default network. If so, it is important to determine whether an altered developmental picture can be detected using rs-fcMRI in children with ADHD.

Methods

This study used the typical developmental context provided previously by Fair et al. (2008) to examine coherence of brain activity within the default network using rs-fcMRI in children with (n = 23) and without attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (n = 23).

Results

We found that functional connections previously shown as developmentally dynamic in the default network were atypical in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder—consistent with perturbation or failure of the maturational processes.

Conclusions

These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that atypical consolidation of this network over development plays a role in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Section snippets

Participants and Measures

Youth (7–16 years) were recruited with a combination of advertisements, mailings, and clinic outreach. Informed written consent and assent was obtained from parents and children, respectively; all procedures complied with the University Human Investigation Review Board. Twenty-three participants with ADHD and 23 age-matched healthy control participants were included. Data for this study were collected as a large collaborative effort at Oregon Health and Science University, and as such slightly

Sample Overview

Participant characteristics are summarized in Table 1 (see also Table S1 in Supplement 1). Intellectual functioning was in the normal range for both groups, but as is commonly found, the ADHD group had a lower estimated full-scale IQ than the control group. Parent Conners scores were in the clinical range for the ADHD group but in the normal range for the typically developing group. Symptom scores did not vary with age across groups (hyperactivity r = .13, p = .39; Inattention, r = .01, p =

Discussion

We found that correlated spontaneous activity within the default network is reduced in children with ADHD. We further showed that specific functional connections, previously shown as developmentally dynamic (26), were also atypical in children with ADHD. These findings are consistent with perturbation in the typical developmental trajectory of circuit consolidation and suggest that the consolidation of this network over development may play a central role in the pathophysiology of ADHD.

We note

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