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Functional neuronal networks reveal emotional processing differences in children with ADHD

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Abstract

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that, in addition to inattention, excessive activity, or impulsivity, makes it difficult for children to process facial emotions and thus to interact with their peers. Here we analyze neuronal networks of children with this disorder by means of the phase-locking value (PLV) method. In particular, we determine the level of phase synchronization between 62 EEG channels of 22 healthy boys and 22 boys with ADHD, recorder whilst observing facial emotions of anger, happiness, neutrality, and sadness. We construct neuronal networks based on the gamma sub-band, which according to previous studies, shows the highest response to emotional stimuli. We find that the functional connectivity of the frontal and occipital lobes in the ADHD group is significantly (P-value < 0.01) higher than in the healthy group. More functional connectivity in these lobes shows more phase synchronization between the neurons of these brain regions, representing some problems in the brain emotional processing center in the ADHD group. The shortest path lengths in these lobes are also significantly (P-value < 0.01) higher in the ADHD group than in the healthy group. This result indicates less efficiency of information transmission and segregation in occipital and frontal lobes of ADHD neuronal networks, responsible for visual and emotional processing in the brain, respectively. We hope that our approach will help obtain further insights into ADHD with methods of network science.

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Acknowledgements

Matjaž Perc was supported by the Slovenian Research Agency (Grant Nos.P1-0403 and J1-2457).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, No. 350, Hafez Ave, Valiasr Square, Tehran, 159163-4311, Iran

    Sheida Ansari Nasab, Shirin Panahi, Farnaz Ghassemi & Sajad Jafari

  2. Health Technology Research Institute, Amirkabir University of Technology, No. 350, Hafez Ave, Valiasr Square, Tehran, 159163-4311, Iran

    Sajad Jafari

  3. Center for Nonlinear Systems, Chennai Institute of Technology, Chennai, India

    Karthikeyan Rajagopal

  4. Physics and Applied Mathematics Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, 203 B.T. Road, Kolkata, 700108, India

    Dibakar Ghosh

  5. Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Koroška cesta 160, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia

    Matjaž Perc

  6. Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taichung, 404332, Taiwan

    Matjaž Perc

  7. Alma Mater Europaea, Slovenska ulica 17, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia

    Matjaž Perc

  8. Complexity Science Hub Vienna, Josefstädterstraße 39, 1080, Vienna, Austria

    Matjaž Perc

Authors
  1. Sheida Ansari Nasab
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  2. Shirin Panahi
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  3. Farnaz Ghassemi
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  4. Sajad Jafari
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  5. Karthikeyan Rajagopal
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  6. Dibakar Ghosh
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  7. Matjaž Perc
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Correspondence to Matjaž Perc.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This study was approved by the ethics committee of the Iran University of Medical Sciences (Number: IR.IUMS.REC.1394.92133070).

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Ansari Nasab, S., Panahi, S., Ghassemi, F. et al. Functional neuronal networks reveal emotional processing differences in children with ADHD . Cogn Neurodyn 16, 91–100 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11571-021-09699-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11571-021-09699-6

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