Altered Variability and Concordance of Dynamic Resting-State fMRI Indices in Patients With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Feiling Lou,Xiangwu Zheng,Zhishan Hu,Shuangli Chen,Meihao Wang,Jiejie Tao,Bicheng Chen,Andan Qian,Chuang Yang,Ronghui Zhou

doi:10.3389/fnins.2021.731596

Abstract

Objective: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a commonly diagnosed neuropsychiatric disorder in children, which is characterized by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI), the alterations of static and dynamic characteristics of intrinsic brain activity have been identified in patients with ADHD. Yet, it remains unclear whether the concordance among indices of dynamic R-fMRI is altered in ADHD.Methods: R-fMRI scans obtained from 50 patients with ADHD and 28 healthy controls (HC) were used for the current study. We calculated the regional dynamic changes in brain activity indices using the sliding-window method and compared the differences in variability of these indices between ADHD patients and HCs. Further, the concordance among these dynamic indices was calculated and compared. Finally, the relationship between variability/concordance of these indices and ADHD-relevant clinical test scores was investigated.Results: Patients with ADHD showed decreased variability of dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (dALFF) in the left middle frontal gyrus and increased one in right middle occipital gyrus, as compared with the HCs. Besides, ADHD patients showed decreased voxel-wise concordance in the left middle frontal gyrus. Further, lower voxel-wise concordance in ADHD’s left middle frontal gyrus was associated with more non-perseverative errors in Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, which reflects worse cognitive control.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that variability and concordance in dynamic brain activity may serve as biomarkers for the diagnosis of ADHD. Further, the decreased voxel-wise concordance is associated with deficit in cognitive control in ADHD patients.

Highlights

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity
No significant between-group difference was found for the dynamics of other resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI) indices
The current study investigated the variability and concordance of a range of commonly used R-fMRI indices in ADHD

Summary

Introduction

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity It is one of the most commonly diagnosed childhood neurodevelopmental disorder, whose prevalence in school-age children and adolescents is estimated at 7.2% (Thomas et al, 2015). Maladaptive in the intrinsic brain activity of ADHD was frequently reported in previous studies. Many of these findings were derived from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI), which measures the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal without task or stimulation and further characterizes the spatiotemporal organization of brain activities (Forster et al, 1998; Fox and Raichle, 2007). Global signal connectivity (GSC) is described as the correlation between local voxels and global signal (Hahamy et al, 2014; Power et al, 2017)

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Discussion

Conclusion