Attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity (ADHD) could be identified by the volume of certain areas of the brain, depending on the results of a study published in the medical journal The Lancet Psychiatry. In fact, the brains of individuals affected by TDHA are said to be slightly smaller than that of healthy people.
This study was set up to examine the brain size of people with ADHD. It involves more than 3,200 people. Researchers at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands measured differences in the brain structure of 1,713 people diagnosed with ADHD and 1,529 people without, all between the ages of 4 and 63.
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Symptoms of ADHD include inattention, hyperactivity and impulsive action. The disorder affects more than one in 20 (5.3%) children under the age of 18, and two-thirds of those diagnosed continue to experience symptoms into adulthood.
All 3,242 participants had an MRI scan to measure their overall brain volume and the size of seven brain regions that are believed to be related to ADHD, the pallidum, the thalamus, the caudate nucleus, the putamen, the nucleus accumbens, the tonsil and hippocampus.
The study found that the overall brain volume and five of the areas observed were smaller in people with ADHD : caudate nucleus, putamen, nucleus accumbens, amygdala and hippocampus.
“These differences are very small, within a few percent, so the unprecedented size of our study was crucial in identifying them. It also found similar differences for other psychiatric disorders, in especially the major depressive disorder “said lead author Dr Martine Hoogman, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
The results of this study could help improve understanding of ADHD and reduce prejudices about this disease.
“The results of our study confirm that people with ADHD have differences in their brain structure and therefore suggest that ADHD is a disorder of the brain,” added Dr. Hoogman. “We hope this will help reduce the stigma. ADHD is not ‘just a label’ for difficult children or incompetent parents. We hope this work will contribute to a better understanding of the disorder.”
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People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have different brains https://t.co/W77tVCHLUO
– ADHD France (@hypersupers) February 16, 2017
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