The attention deficit and hyperactivity syndrome (or ADHD) is an extremely common neurosviluppuchial disorder, which affects about five percent of school age children, and a slightly lower (and growing) percentage of adults. It is believed that it is born from the alteration of the development of some brain areas, but until now the research has given discordant results. A new study of the University of Chiba, in Japan, could however solve the mystery: using a new technique of analysis of the images collected by magnetic resonance imaging, in fact, the authors have managed to demonstrate that there are some characteristic alterations in the brain of people who suffer from ADHD, also identifiable in the data collected by previous research.
A disorder that is born in the brain
The symptoms of the ADHD are quite characteristic: those who suffer from it has difficulty concentrating, are easily distracted, tend not to listen to their interlocutors, and can show signs of hyperactivity and impulsiveness. It is a problem that begins in childhood, and without specialist help is often the cause of problems during the school career and in the social and emotional sphere. It is believed that it originates from an alteration of the development of some brain areas, which would happen before birth, or already in the very first months of life. But the research that in the past have tried to document these alterations – we said – have often obtained conflicting results.
In fact, some studies reported a reduction in gray matter in some areas of the brain of people with ADHD. While others did not highlight structural differences, or indicated – on the other hand – an increase in volume of gray matter. In short, among the experts, the doubt that it was impossible to identify the indicative brain characteristics of the ADHD with the tools currently available in the laboratory. A possibility that Japanese researchers have decided to dispel with their study.
A different analysis technique
Studying the brain characteristics associated with a neurosviluppo disorder is not easy, because research must take into account the natural variations that differentiate any human brain, the slightly different performance that has each machine for magnetic resonance imaging and any software used for the analysis of the results, and of many other variables that can alter the results. Normally these statistical adjustments are made using a method known as Combat Harmonization, but it is a method that tends to compensate for possible errors, with the risk – according to Japanese researchers – to get lost on the street the subtle biological differences that are looking for.
The research then tried a different method to harmonize the results of magnetic resonances, defined as Traveling -uber Method. It consists in carrying out test scans on healthy volunteers with different devices for magnetic resonance imaging. Based on the results obtained, the analysis tools are calibrated to standardize the results of the machines for magnetic resonance imaging, and therefore patients can be studied without risk that the differences between the appliances can pollute the results.
The field test
Using the Traveling-Subject Method, the researchers studied the brain of 178 normal children and 116 who had received a diagnosis of ADHD. Finally obtaining unequivocal results: the children who lived with the disorder showed a reduction in the volume of the cerebral cortex in the front -time region. An area of the brain that plays a fundamental role for attention, regulation of emotions, decision -making processes and cognitive functions necessary to organize one’s daily activities.
The results must now be considered preliminary, because the sample studied is too limited to offer reliable certainties. The research, however, demonstrates the effectiveness of the Traveling -uber Method, and in the future-studying a wider population of patients-could help identify authentic ADHD biomarkers, which would make early diagnosis easier, and could even allow you to monitor the effectiveness of treatments in real time.
“The characteristics we have identified could facilitate early diagnoses and make therapies more precise and customized,” confirms Qiulu Shou, among the authors of the study. “On the long term, I think our approach could improve the quality of life of children suffering from ADHD, and reduce the risk that suffer from other psychiatric disorders”.