Cortical Thickness in Young Treatment-Naive Children With ADHD

J Atten Disord. 2015 Nov;19(11):925-30. doi: 10.1177/1087054712455501. Epub 2012 Aug 21.

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the cortical thickness in areas of the brain that are hypothesized to be involved in response inhibition and error-monitoring behaviors. The authors hypothesized that children with ADHD would have a thinner prefrontal cortex (PFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) than healthy children.

Method: In all, 25 ADHD and 25 healthy control male children (5-12 years) underwent magnetic resonance imaging.

Results: The authors found thinner right superior frontal gyrus in ADHD patients compared with controls (t = 2.01, df = 45, p = .049). The older children with ADHD drove this effect when participants were further subdivided into a younger and older age group (older participants: p = .004; younger participants: p = ns).

Conclusion: These findings have implications for the developmental trajectory of the frontal lobe in ADHD.

Keywords: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; cortical thickness; magnetic resonance imaging; pediatric; superior temporal gyrus.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Age Factors
  • Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / pathology*
  • Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / physiopathology
  • Brain / pathology
  • Brain Mapping
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Cerebral Cortex / pathology*
  • Cerebral Cortex / physiopathology
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Female
  • Gyrus Cinguli / pathology*
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Prefrontal Cortex / pathology*
  • Prefrontal Cortex / physiopathology