ADHD Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about ADHD, including details on attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, drugs, treatment, symptoms.

Amygdala activation during emotion processing of neutral faces in children with severe mood dysregulation versus ADHD or bipolar disorder.

Brotman MA, Rich BA, Guyer AE, Lunsford JR, Horsey SE, Reising MM, Thomas LA, Fromm SJ, Towbin K, Pine DS, Leibenluft E

Emotion and Development Branch, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, NIMH, NIH, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. brotmanm@mail.nih.gov

OBJECTIVE: To understand disorder-unique and common pathophysiology, studies in multiple patient groups with overlapping symptoms are needed. Deficits in emotion processing and hyperarousal symptoms are prominent features of bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and severe mood dysregulation. The authors compared amygdala response during emotional and nonemotional ratings of neutral faces in youths with these disorders as well as a group of healthy comparison youths. METHOD: Blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal in the amygdala was examined in children with bipolar disorder (N=43), ADHD (N=18), and severe mood dysregulation (N=29) and healthy comparison subjects (N=37). During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), participants attended to emotional and nonemotional aspects of neutral faces. RESULTS: While rating subjective fear of neutral faces, youths with ADHD demonstrated left amygdala hyperactivity relative to the other three groups, whereas youths with severe mood dysregulation demonstrated hypoactivity. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the role of unique neural correlates in face-emotion processing among youths with bipolar disorder, ADHD, and severe mood dysregulation.

Published 13 January 2010 in Am J Psychiatry, 167(1): 61-9.
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Articles on ADHD published 13 January 2010:

Sex differences in the functional neuroanatomy of working memory in adults with ADHD.   Am J Psychiatry, 167(1): 86-94.

OBJECTIVE: Although attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults is associated with significant morbidity and dysfunction and afflicts both sexes, relatively few imaging studies have examined female subjects and none have had sufficient power to adequately examine sex differences. The authors examined sex differences in the neural functioning of adults with ADHD during performance of a verbal working memory task. METHOD: The participants were 44 adults with ADHD matched on age, ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on ADHD published 16 December 2009:

Routine developmental screening at 5.5 and 7 years of age is not an efficient predictor of attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder at age 10.   Acta Paediatr, 99(1): 112-20.

AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the efficiency of developmental screening for deficits in attention, motor control and perception or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (DAMP/ADHD) at 5.5 and 7 years of age for diagnosing ADHD in grade 4. METHOD: The study population consisted of 442 children from a cohort study of ADHD in 10-year olds in one municipality in Stockholm County. Sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value of a developmental screening at 5.5 and at 7 years ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on ADHD published 2 December 2009:

Adjunctive divalproex versus placebo for children with ADHD and aggression refractory to stimulant monotherapy.   Am J Psychiatry, 166(12): 1392-401.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of divalproex for reducing aggressive behavior among children 6 to 13 years old with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and a disruptive disorder whose chronic aggression was underresponsive to a prospective psychostimulant trial. METHOD: Children received open stimulant treatment during a lead-in phase that averaged 5 weeks. Agent and dose were assessed weekly and modified to optimize response. Children whose ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on ADHD published 1 December 2009:

Association of tobacco and lead exposures with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.   Pediatrics, 124(6): e1054-63.

OBJECTIVE: The study objective was to determine the independent and joint associations of prenatal tobacco and childhood lead exposures with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as defined by current diagnostic criteria, in a national sample of US children. METHODS: Data are from the 2001-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a cross-sectional, nationally representative sample of the US population. Participants were 8 to 15 years of age (N = 2588). Prenatal tobacco ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Dietary PUFA intakes in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms.   Br J Nutr, 102(11): 1635-41.

Research has shown associations between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and erythrocyte long-chain n-3 PUFA (LC n-3 PUFA) levels, with limited evidence for dietary LC n-3 PUFA intake and ADHD. The aims of the present study were to assess dietary PUFA intakes and food sources in children with ADHD, to compare these intakes to previously published Australian National Nutrition Survey (NNS) data and determine any relationships between intakes and ADHD symptoms. Eighty-six ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on ADHD published 25 November 2009:

Intellectual deficits in children with ADHD beyond central executive and non-executive functions.   Arch Clin Neuropsychol, 24(8): 769-82.

This study aimed to specify the deficit in intellectual ability in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), by studying the mediating role of impairments in central executive function (EF)-related components (working memory, inhibition, sustained attention) and non-EFs (short-term memory and processing speed). Two hundred and thirty children aged 8-11 years from a population-based sample were assigned to either the ADHD group, the clinical comparison group, or the normal ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Effect of candidate gene polymorphisms on the course of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.   Psychiatry Res, 170(2): 199-203.

The main aim of this study was to examine the association between attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-associated genes and the course of ADHD. Subjects were derived from identically designed case-control family studies of boys and girls with ADHD and a genetic linkage study of families with children with ADHD. Caucasian probands and family members with ADHD and with available genetic data were included in this analysis (N=563). The course of ADHD was compared in subjects with and ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

ADHD latent class clusters: DSM-IV subtypes and comorbidity.   Psychiatry Res, 170(2): 192-8.

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) has a complex, heterogeneous phenotype only partially captured by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria. In this report, latent class analyses (LCA) are used to identify ADHD phenotypes using K-SADS-IVR (Schedule for Affective Disorders & Schizophrenia for School Age Children-IV-Revised) symptoms and symptom severity data from a clinical sample of 500 ADHD subjects, ages 6-18, participating in an ADHD genetic ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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