Neural Correlates of the Dual-Pathway Model for ADHD in Adolescents

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Chun Shen - , Fudan University (Author)
  • Qiang Luo - , Fudan University (Author)
  • Tianye Jia - , Fudan University (Author)
  • Qi Zhao - , Fudan University (Author)
  • Sylvane Desrivières - , Medical Research Council (MRC) (Author)
  • Erin Burke Quinlan - , Medical Research Council (MRC) (Author)
  • Tobias Banaschewski - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Sabina Millenet - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Arun L.W. Bokde - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)
  • Christian Büchel - , University of Hamburg (Author)
  • Herta Flor - , Heidelberg University , University of Mannheim (Author)
  • Vincent Frouin - , French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) (Author)
  • Hugh Garavan - , University of Vermont (Author)
  • Penny Gowland - , University of Nottingham (Author)
  • Andreas Heinz - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Author)
  • Bernd Ittermann - , Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (Author)
  • Jean Luc Martinot - , Université Paris Cité, Service Hospitalier Frederic Joliot, Maison de Solenn (Author)
  • Eric Artiges - , Université Paris Cité, Service Hospitalier Frederic Joliot, Hospital Group Nord-Essonne (Author)
  • Marie Laure Paillère-Martinot - , Université Paris Cité, Sorbonne Université (Author)
  • Frauke Nees - , Heidelberg University , Kiel University (Author)
  • Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos - , French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) (Author)
  • Tomás Paus - , Bloorview Research Institute, University of Toronto (Author)
  • Luise Poustka - , University of Göttingen, Medical University of Vienna (Author)
  • Juliane H. Fröhner - , Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Neuroimaging Center (Author)
  • Michael N. Smolka - , Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Neuroimaging Center (Author)
  • Henrik Walter - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Author)
  • Robert Whelan - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)
  • Fei Li - , Xinhua Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine (Author)
  • Jianfeng Feng - , Fudan University, University of Warwick (Author)
  • Gunter Schumann - , Medical Research Council (MRC) (Author)
  • Barbara J. Sahakian - , Fudan University, University of Cambridge, Xinhua Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine (Author)

Abstract

Objective: The dual-pathway model has been proposed to explain the heterogeneity in symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by two independent psychological pathways based on distinct brain circuits. The authors sought to test whether the hypothesized cognitive and motivational pathways have separable neural correlates. Methods: In a longitudinal community-based cohort of 1,963 adolescents, the neuroanatomical correlates of ADHD were identified by a voxel-wise association analysis and then validated using an independent clinical sample (99 never-medicated patients with ADHD, 56 medicated patients with ADHD, and 267 healthy control subjects). The cognitive and motivational pathways were assessed by neuropsychological tests of working memory, intrasubject variability, stop-signal reaction time, and delay discounting. The associations were tested between the identified neuroanatomical correlates and both ADHD symptoms 2 years later and the polygenic risk score for ADHD. Results: Gray matter volumes of both a prefrontal cluster and a posterior occipital cluster were negatively associated with inattention. Compared with healthy control subjects, never-medicated patients, but not medicated patients, had significantly lower gray matter volumes in these two clusters. Working memory and intrasubject variability were associated with the posterior occipital cluster, and delay discounting was independently associated with both clusters. The baseline gray matter volume of the posterior occipital cluster predicted the inattention symptoms in a 2-year follow-up and was associated with the genetic risk for ADHD. Conclusions: The dual-pathway model has both shared and separable neuroanatomical correlates, and the shared correlate in the occipital cortex has the potential to serve as an imaging trait marker of ADHD, especially the inattention symptom domain.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)844-854
Number of pages11
JournalAmerican Journal of Psychiatry
Volume177
Issue number9
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2020
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 32375536
ORCID /0000-0001-5398-5569/work/161890719
ORCID /0000-0002-8493-6396/work/161891641

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas