Resting functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) reveals broken connections between different parts of the brain in children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

A research team led by Dr. QiyongGong from the Department of Radiology at Sichuan University Western China Hospital in China claims that resting-state fMRI can be a very useful method for early diagnosis of this condition..

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurobehavioral disorder characterized by problems concentrating, uncontrollable behavior, and increased activity..

This disorder occurs in people of all ages, although it is most common in children, especially boys.. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 6.4 million children aged 4-17 in the United States had ADHD in 2011-2012, a 42% increase from 2003-2004..

In past years, ADHD has been studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging, which monitors brain activity during tasks.. This helps to identify the activity of the fronto-striatal circuits of the brain - the neural pathways in the frontal lobe that control human behavior..

However, the authors of the latest study using conventional fMRI failed to " Therefore, they decided to use resting-state fMRI (rfMRI), a technique that measures brain activity when the patient is not focused on solving problems..

People with ADHD 'may have more extensive abnormalities than previously thought'.

For their study, published in the journal Radiology, the researchers recruited 33 boys with ADHD, ages 6 to 16, and compared their resting fMRI to those of 32 healthy peers..

Resting-state fMRI could be a useful tool for early and accurate diagnosis of ADHD in children, researchers say.

All participants were required to complete functional tests that measured the child's ability to control cognitive processes, including planning, working memory, problem solving, reasoning.. Participants with ADHD showed impairment of this function. At the same time, the results of fMRI at rest correlated with the results of functional tests that the children underwent..

The team found that in boys with ADHD, the structure and function of certain areas of the brain, such as the orbitofrontal cortex (cortexorbitofrontalis), an area responsible for strategic planning, are impaired.. Such disturbances have also been found in the globus pallidus, a part of the brain that is supposed to suppress misbehavior..

The researchers say these results suggest that abnormalities in these areas of the brain may be associated with impaired attention and uncontrolled activity in children with ADHD..

In addition, they found abnormalities in neural pathways that are associated with resting states, which can create additional behavioral, emotional, and cognitive difficulties..

According to Dr. Gong, these results show that structural and functional brain damage in ADHD patients may be much more extensive than previously thought..

He notes that resting-state fMRI will be an invaluable tool for scientists to study the relationship between brain activity and executive function.. This will help to better characterize ADHD and understand the mechanisms of development of this disease..

The researcher adds: “Our results suggest that the clinical usefulness of resting fMRI has increased significantly, and now this method allows to diagnose and track the disease, as well as to make timely decisions about future intervention.”.

At the same time, scientists have called for more testing of this diagnostic method in patients with ADHD.. They intend to use resting fMRI to further study the different subtypes of this syndrome..

medbe. en.