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Increase or Decrease of fMRI Activity in Adult Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder: Does It Depend on Task Difficulty?

Please always quote using this URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147551
  • Background: Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder has been shown to affect working memory, and fMRI studies in children and adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder report hypoactivation in task-related attentional networks. However, studies with adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder patients addressing this issue as well as the effects of clinically valid methylphenidate treatment are scarce. This study contributes to closing this gap. Methods: Thirty-five adult patients were randomized to 6 weeks ofBackground: Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder has been shown to affect working memory, and fMRI studies in children and adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder report hypoactivation in task-related attentional networks. However, studies with adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder patients addressing this issue as well as the effects of clinically valid methylphenidate treatment are scarce. This study contributes to closing this gap. Methods: Thirty-five adult patients were randomized to 6 weeks of double-blind placebo or methylphenidate treatment. Patients completed an fMRI n-back working memory task both before and after the assigned treatment, and matched healthy controls were tested and compared to the untreated patients. Results: There were no whole-brain differences between any of the groups. However, when specified regions of interest were investigated, the patient group showed enhanced BOLD responses in dorsal and ventral areas before treatment. This increase was correlated with performance across all participants and with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms in the patient group. Furthermore, we found an effect of treatment in the right superior frontal gyrus, with methylphenidate-treated patients exhibiting increased activation, which was absent in the placebo-treated patients. Conclusions: Our results indicate distinct activation differences between untreated adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder patients and matched healthy controls during a working memory task. These differences might reflect compensatory efforts by the patients, who are performing at the same level as the healthy controls. We furthermore found a positive effect of methylphenidate on the activation of a frontal region of interest. These observations contribute to a more thorough understanding of adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and provide impulses for the evaluation of therapy-related changes.show moreshow less

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Metadaten
Author: Stefanie C. Biehl, Christian J. Merz, Thomas Dresler, Julia Heupel, Susanne Reichert, Christian P. Jacob, Jürgen Deckert, Martin J. Herrmann
URN:urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147551
Document Type:Journal article
Faculties:Medizinische Fakultät / Klinik und Poliklinik für Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie, Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie
Medizinische Fakultät / Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie, Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie
Language:English
Parent Title (English):International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
Year of Completion:2016
Volume:19
Issue:10
Pagenumber:pyw049
Source:International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, (2016) 19(10): 1–10. doi:10.1093/ijnp/pyw049
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/ijnp/pyw049
Dewey Decimal Classification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 618 Gynäkologie, Geburtsmedizin, Pädiatrie, Geriatrie
Tag:adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder; child memory; clinical trial; fMRI; functional magnetic resonance imaging; methylphenidate; short-term methylphenidate brain; working memory
Release Date:2017/05/17
Collections:Open-Access-Publikationsfonds / Förderzeitraum 2016
Licence (German):License LogoCC BY-NC: Creative-Commons-Lizenz: Namensnennung, Nicht kommerziell