Attention-deficit/hyperactivity should be considered a brain disorder, researchers say
THURSDAY, Feb. 16, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with the delayed development of five brain regions and should be considered a brain disorder, according to a study published online Feb. 15 in The Lancet Psychiatry.
For the international study, Martine Hoogman, Ph.D., of the Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, Netherlands, and colleagues included 1,713 individuals with ADHD and 1,529 without the disorder. Participants were between the ages of 4 and 63.
Magnetic resonance imaging revealed that five brain regions in those with ADHD were smaller than in those without ADHD: the caudate nucleus, putamen, nucleus accumbens, amygdala, and hippocampus. These differences were more prominent in children with ADHD than in adults with the disorder.
“The results from our study confirm that people with ADHD have differences in their brain structure, and therefore suggest that ADHD is a disorder of the brain,” Hoogman said in a journal news release.
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