Neural circuitry underlying sustained attention in healthy adolescents and in ADHD symptomatology

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Laura O'Halloran - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)
  • Zhipeng Cao - , University College Dublin (Author)
  • Kathy Ruddy - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)
  • Lee Jollans - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)
  • Matthew D. Albaugh - , University of Vermont (Author)
  • Andrea Aleni - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)
  • Alexandra S. Potter - , University of Vermont (Author)
  • Nigel Vahey - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)
  • Tobias Banaschewski - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Sarah Hohmann - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Arun L.W. Bokde - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)
  • Uli Bromberg - , University of Hamburg (Author)
  • Christian Büchel - , University of Hamburg (Author)
  • Erin Burke Quinlan - , King's College London (KCL) (Author)
  • Sylvane Desrivières - , King's College London (KCL) (Author)
  • Herta Flor - , Heidelberg University , University of Mannheim (Author)
  • Vincent Frouin - , French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) (Author)
  • Penny Gowland - , University of Nottingham (Author)
  • Andreas Heinz - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Author)
  • Bernd Ittermann - , Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (Author)
  • Frauke Nees - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos - , French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) (Author)
  • Tomáš Paus - , University of Toronto (Author)
  • Michael N. Smolka - , Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Neuroimaging Center (Author)
  • Henrik Walter - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Author)
  • Gunter Schumann - , King's College London (KCL) (Author)
  • Hugh Garavan - , University of Vermont (Author)
  • Clare Kelly - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)
  • Robert Whelan - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)

Abstract

Moment-to-moment reaction time variability on tasks of attention, often quantified by intra-individual response variability (IRV), provides a good indication of the degree to which an individual is vulnerable to lapses in sustained attention. Increased IRV is a hallmark of several disorders of attention, including Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Here, task-based fMRI was used to provide the first examination of how average brain activation and functional connectivity patterns in adolescents are related to individual differences in sustained attention as measured by IRV. We computed IRV in a large sample of adolescents (n = 758) across ‘Go’ trials of a Stop Signal Task (SST). A data-driven, multi-step analysis approach was used to identify networks associated with low IRV (i.e., good sustained attention) and high IRV (i.e., poorer sustained attention). Low IRV was associated with greater functional segregation (i.e., stronger negative connectivity) amongst an array of brain networks, particularly between cerebellum and motor, cerebellum and prefrontal, and occipital and motor networks. In contrast, high IRV was associated with stronger positive connectivity within the motor network bilaterally and between motor and parietal, prefrontal, and limbic networks. Consistent with these observations, a separate sample of adolescents exhibiting elevated ADHD symptoms had increased fMRI activation and stronger positive connectivity within the same motor network denoting poorer sustained attention, compared to a matched asymptomatic control sample. With respect to the functional connectivity signature of low IRV, there were no statistically significant differences in networks denoting good sustained attention between the ADHD symptom group and asymptomatic control group. We propose that sustained attentional processes are facilitated by an array of neural networks working together, and provide an empirical account of how the functional role of the cerebellum extends to cognition in adolescents. This work highlights the involvement of motor cortex in the integrity of sustained attention, and suggests that atypically strong connectivity within motor networks characterizes poor attentional capacity in both typically developing and ADHD symptomatic adolescents.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)395-406
Number of pages12
JournalNeuroImage
Volume169
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2018
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 29274748
ORCID /0000-0001-5398-5569/work/161890707

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • ADHD, Attention, fMRI, Functional connectivity, Reaction-time variability, SST