Conectividade funcional em repouso em crianças com transtorno de déficit de atenção/hiperatividade

Abstract

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent neuropsychiatric disorders among children. Although the clinical presentation and treatment of ADHD are well established, its etiology is not yet known. Recent functional neuroimaging techniques may help increase knowledge about the pathophysiology of the disorder, allowing for the empirical testing of theoretical hypotheses on brain networks in ADHD. In this study, we analyzed a group of 23 treatment naïve boys with ADHD, aged between 8 and 10 years old, who underwent a protocol of resting-state functional magnetic imaging before and after six months of treatment with methylphenidate. Analyses of functional connectivity were performed between regions of interest (seeds) placed within the default mode network (DMN). Subsequently, changes in the DMN connectivity before and after treatment were investigated with an independent component analysis (ICA). Results of the seeds analysis showed no significant changes in connectivity between regions of the DMN following treatment, with a relatively small increase in the anterior-posterior connectivity of the network. The ICA revealed a significant increase in the connectivity between the left putamen and the DMN (p <0.01, corrected). There was also a positive correlation between the decrease of symptoms and the connectivity between the putamen and the DMN after treatment (rho = 0.65, p = 0.17). These findings indicate that treatment with methylphenidate modifies the connectivity between the DMN and subcortical nuclei. Dysfunctions in corticalsubcortical circuits have often been associated with the pathophysiology of ADHD. The effect of treatment with methylphenidate may in part be associated with elevated dopamine levels in subcortical nuclei, modulating its connectivity with the DMN.