Investigation of white matter functional networks underlying different behavioral profiles in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Common and distinct cortical thickness alterations in youth with autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

BACKGROUND

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are neurodevelopmental disorders with overlapping behavioral features and genetic etiology. While brain cortical thickness (CTh) alterations have been reported in ASD and ADHD separately, the degree to which ASD and ADHD are associated with common and distinct patterns of CTh changes is unclear.

METHODS

We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Science Direct from inception to 8 December 2023 and included studies of cortical thickness comparing youth (age less than 18) with ASD or ADHD with typically developing controls (TDC). We conducted a comparative meta-analysis of vertex-based studies to identify common and distinct CTh alterations in ASD and ADHD.

RESULTS

Twelve ASD datasets involving 458 individuals with ASD and 10 ADHD datasets involving 383 individuals with ADHD were included in the analysis. Compared to TDC, ASD showed increased CTh in bilateral superior frontal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, and right superior parietal lobule (SPL) and decreased CTh in right temporoparietal junction (TPJ). ADHD showed decreased CTh in bilateral precentral gyri, right postcentral gyrus, and right TPJ relative to TDC. Conjunction analysis showed both disorders shared reduced TPJ CTh located in default mode network (DMN). Comparative analyses indicated ASD had greater CTh in right SPL and TPJ located in dorsal attention network and thinner CTh in right TPJ located in ventral attention network than ADHD.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest shared thinner TPJ located in DMN is an overlapping neurobiological feature of ASD and ADHD. This alteration together with SPL alterations might be related to altered biological motion processing in ASD, while abnormalities in sensorimotor systems may contribute to behavioral control problems in ADHD. The disorder-specific thinner TPJ located in disparate attention networks provides novel insight into distinct symptoms of attentional deficits associated with the two neurodevelopmental disorders.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

PROSPERO CRD42022370620. Registered on November 9, 2022.

Microstructure abnormalities of the diffusion quantities in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: an AFQ and TBSS study

Objective

To explore the specific alterations of white matter microstructure in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by automated fiber quantification (AFQ) and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS), and to analyze the correlation between white matter abnormality and impairment of executive function.

Methods

In this prospective study, a total of twenty-seven patients diagnosed with ADHD (20 males, 7 females; mean age of 8.89 ± 1.67 years) and twenty-two healthy control (HC) individuals (11 males, 11 females, mean age of 9.82 ± 2.13 years) were included. All participants were scanned with diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) and assessed for executive functions. AFQ and TBSS analysis methods were used to investigate the white matter fiber impairment of ADHD patients, respectively. Axial diffusivity (AD), radial diffusivity (RD), mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) of 17 fiber properties were calculated using the AFQ. The mean kurtosis (MK), axial kurtosis (AK), radial kurtosis (RK), mean diffusivity (MDDKI), axial diffusivity (ADDKI), radial diffusivity (RDDKI) and fractional anisotropy (FADKI) of DKI and AD, RD, MD, and FA of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) assessed the integrity of the white matter based on TBSS. Partial correlation analyses were conducted to evaluate the correlation between white matter abnormalities and clinical test scores in ADHD while taking age, gender, and education years into account. The analyses were all family-wise error rate (FWE) corrected.

Results

ADHD patients performed worse on the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) test (p < 0.05). Minor variances existed in gender and age between ADHD and HC, but these variances did not yield statistically significant distinctions. There were no significant differences in TBSS for DKI and DTI parameters (p > 0.05, TFCE-corrected). Compared to HC volunteers, the mean AD value of right cingulum bundle (CB_R) fiber tract showed a significantly higher level in ADHD patients following the correction of FWE. As a result of the point-wise comparison between groups, significant alterations (FWE correction, p < 0.05) were mainly located in AD (nodes 36-38, nodes 83-97) and MD (nodes 92-95) of CB_R. There was no significant correlation between white matter diffusion parameters and clinical test scores in ADHD while taking age, gender, and education years into account.

Conclusion

The AFQ method can detect ADHD white matter abnormalities in a specific location with greater sensitivity, and the CB_R played a critical role. Our findings may be helpful in further studying the relationship between focal white matter abnormalities and ADHD.