COMMENTARY

MRI Reveals Brain Differences in Children With ADHD

Alan R. Jacobs, MD

April 20, 2018

This is the Medscape Neurology Minute. I'm Dr Alan Jacobs.

Researchers from Sichuan University have used cerebral radiomics, an analytical framework for psychoradiology that they developed, to identify diagnostic and subtyping features of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).^[1]

Eighty-three children between ages 7 and 14 years with newly diagnosed and never treated ADHD, and 87 healthy controls, underwent anatomic and diffusion tensor MRI to extract shape properties of gray matter and diffusion properties of white matter, which were screened for relevant radiomics signatures.

They found no overall difference in total brain volume or total gray and white matter volume between those with ADHD and controls.

However, alterations in cortical shape in the left temporal lobe, bilateral cuneus, and left central sulcus allowed for discrimination of ADHD from controls with 74% accuracy.

Moreover, discriminating features in the default mode network and the insular cortex showed discrimination of combined ADHD from the inattentive subtype of ADHD with 80% accuracy.

The researchers concluded that cerebral morphometric alterations can allow for discrimination between patients with ADHD and control subjects, and between the most common ADHD subtypes.

This has been the Medscape Neurology Minute. I'm Dr Alan Jacobs.

References

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Cite this: Alan R. Jacobs. MRI Reveals Brain Differences in Children With ADHD - Medscape - Apr 20, 2018.

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