Childhood-Diagnosed ADHD, Symptom Progression, and Reversal Learning in Adulthood. Issue 6 (April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: McCarthy, Hazel; Stanley, Jessica; Piech, Richard; Skokauskas, Norbert; Mulligan, Aisling; Donohoe, Gary; Mullins, Diane; Kelly, John; Johnson, Katherine; Fagan, Andrew; Gill, Michael; Meaney, James; Frodl, Thomas
• Is Part Of: Journal of attention disorders. Volume 22:Issue 6(2018)
• Page Start: 561
• Page End: 570
• Publication Date: 2018-04
• Subjects: ADHD -- remission -- persistence -- functional neuroimaging; Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder -- Periodicals; Attention -- Periodicals; 616.8589
• DOI: 10.1177/1087054716661233
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1087-0547

Abstract

Objective: ADHD persists in up to 60% into adulthood, and the reasons for persistence are not fully understood. The objective of this study was to characterize the neurofunctional basis of decision making in those with a childhood diagnosis of ADHD with either persistent or remitted symptoms in adulthood versus healthy control participants.Method: Thirty-two adults diagnosed with ADHD as children were split into persistent ( n = 18) or remitted ( n = 14) ADHD groups. Their neural activity and neurofunctional connectivity during a probabilistic reversal learning task were compared with 32 healthy controls.Results: Remitters showed significantly higher neural connectivity in final reversal error and probabilistic error conditions, and persisters depict higher neural connectivity in reversal errors than controls at a family-wise error (FWE) corrected whole-brain corrected threshold.Conclusion: Remitters may have utilized higher neural connectivity than controls to make successful decisions. Also, remitters may have utilized compensatory strategies to override any potential underlying ADHD deficits.