Abstract
Objective
Arterial spin labeling (ASL) is a relatively new imaging modality in the field of the cognitive neuroscience. In the present study, we aimed to compare the dynamic regional cerebral blood flow alterations of children with ADHD and healthy controls during a neurocognitive task by using event-related ASL scanning.
Methods
The study comprised of 17 healthy controls and 20 children with ADHD. The study subjects were scanned on 3 Tesla MRI scanner to obtain ASL imaging data. Subjects performed go/no-go task during the ASL image acquisition. The image analyses were performed by FEAT (fMRI Expert Analysis Tool) Version 6.
Results
The mean age was 10.88 ± 1.45 and 11 ± 1.91 for the control and ADHD group, respectively (p = .112). The go/no-go task was utilized during the ASL scanning. The right anterior cingulate cortex (BA32) extending into the frontopolar and orbitofrontal cortices (BA10 and 11) displayed greater activation in ADHD children relative to the control counterparts (p < .001). With a lenient significance threshold, greater activation was revealed in the right-sided frontoparietal regions during the go session, and in the left precuneus during the no-go session.
Conclusion
These results indicate that children with ADHD needed to over-activate frontopolar cortex, anterior cingulate as well as the dorsal and ventral attention networks to compensate for the attention demanded in a given cognitive task.
Acknowledgement
The preliminary results of this study were presented as oral presentation in the 11th International Congress on Psychopharmacology& 7th International Symposium on Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24750573.2019.1608692).
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Muharrem Burak Baytunca
Burak Baytunca, MD completed his child and adolescent psychiatry residency training at Ege University in 2016. He is currently receiving his adult psychiatry training at University of Utah, Department of Psychiatry.
Blaise de Frederick
Blaise de B. Frederick, PhD, is an associate professor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an associate biophysicist at McLean Hospital. He is also director of the Technical and Instrumentation Core at the McLean Imaging Center. He received a BS in physics from Yale University and a PhD in biophysics from the University of California at Berkeley.
Gul Unsel Bolat
Gul Unsel Bolat is MD at Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department of Balıkesir University and PhD candidate in Neuroscience at Ege University since 2018.
Burcu Kardas
Burcu Kardaş is MD at Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department of Gazi Yaşargil Education and Research Hospital.
Sevim Berrin Inci
Sevim Berrin İnci İzmir is MSc at Clinical Psychology Department of Işık University.
Melis Ipci
Melis İpçi is BS at Clinical Psychology Department of Hasan Kalyoncu University.
Cem Calli
Cem Çallı is MD and Professor at Radiology Department of Ege University.
Onur Özyurt
Onur Özyurt is PhD at Biomedical Engineering Department of Boğaziçi University.
Dost Öngür
Dost Öngür is William P. and Henry B. Test Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Chief of Center of Excellence in Psychotic Disorders and director of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Research Program at McLean Hospital. Dost also serves as the editor of JAMA Psychiatry.
Serkan Süren
Serkan Suren, MD completed his child&adolescent residency training at Ege University. He is now serving as assistant professor for Medical Park Hospital.
Eyüp Sabri Ercan
Eyüp Sabri Ercan is MD and Professor at Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department of Ege University.