Evaluation of fronto-cerebellar neurometabolites in youth with ADHD compared to the healthy group and their associations with cognitive and behavioral characteristics: A proton magnetic spectroscopy study

Abstract

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders, characterized by specific cognitive and behavioral symptoms. A fronto-cerebellar circuit is implicated in ADHD, and despite its role in cognitive/behavioral aspects, the neurochemical alterations in this circuit are not well understood. The present study aimed to compare neurometabolite ratios of the fronto-cerebellar circuit between ADHD and control participants, using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS), and investigate whether neurometabolites related to cognitive/behavioral characteristics. Fifteen children and adolescents with ADHD and 19 healthy control participants were enrolled in this study. Two single voxel spectra localized in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and left Crus 1 were taken using PRESS sequence. Also, neuropsychological performance and behavioral characteristics were evaluated. Results revealed that ADHD group had different choline/creatine and glutamate/creatine ratios in the fronto-cerebellar circuit, compared to healthy controls. The current study also found significant correlations between neurometabolite ratios in the both region of interests (ROIs) and cognitive/behavioral characteristics. These results suggest that alterations in fronto-cerebellar metabolites may be related to cognitive and behavioral deficits in ADHD, and also, our findings highlight that the cerebellum may be involved in the pathophysiology of ADHD.