Abstract
Emotion dysregulation is common in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It is highly prevalent in young adult ADHD and related to reduced well-being and social impairments. Neuroimaging studies reported neural activity changes in ADHD in brain regions associated with emotion processing and regulation. It is however unknown whether deficits in emotion regulation relate to changes in functional brain network topology in these regions. We used a combination of graph analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM) to analyze resting-state functional connectivity in 147 well-characterized young adults with ADHD and age-matched healthy controls from the NeuroIMAGE database. Emotion dysregulation was gauged with four scales obtained from questionnaires and operationalized through a latent variable derived from SEM. Graph analysis was applied to resting-state data and network topology measures were entered into SEM models to identify brain regions whose local network integration and connectedness differed between subjects and was associated with emotion dysregulation. The latent variable of emotion dysregulation was characterized by scales gauging emotional distress, emotional symptoms, conduct symptoms, and emotional lability. In individuals with ADHD characterized by prominent hyperactivity-impulsivity, the latent emotion dysregulation variable was related to an increased clustering and local efficiency of the right insula. Thus, in the presence of hyperactivity-impulsivity, clustered network formation of the right insula may underpin emotion dysregulation in young adult ADHD.
Highlights
Emotion dysregulation is common in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
We focused our analysis on nodal topology measures and aimed to identify those brain regions whose local, functional brain network integration contributes to emotion dysregulation in predominately inattentive ADHD (ADHD-I) and ADHD with symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity (ADHD-C/H)
Emotion dysregulation is a key component of many psychiatric conditions, including young adult ADHD
Summary
Emotion dysregulation is common in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It is highly prevalent in young adult ADHD and related to reduced well-being and social impairments. While several studies, using task-based as well as resting state fMRI, reported brain activity deviations in structures commonly associated with emotion processing and emotion regulation, few have attempted to directly correlate corresponding activation patterns with emotion dysregulation and none has investigated changes specific to ADHS presentations. Graph theory-based methods have previously been used in ADHD research[10,11,13] to describe changes in network topology of functional connectivity These studies show increased local connectivity and efficiency and decreased global integration. It is unclear how such changes in information processing properties of brain networks relate to emotional deficits. We focused our analysis on nodal topology measures and aimed to identify those brain regions whose local, functional brain network integration contributes to emotion dysregulation in predominately inattentive ADHD (ADHD-I) and ADHD with symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity (ADHD-C/H)
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