Abstract
The coupling between resting-state cerebral blood flow (CBF) and blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signals reflects the mechanism of neurovascular coupling (NVC), which have not been illustrated in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Fifty ADHD and 42 age- and gender-matched typically developing controls (TDs) were enrolled. The NVC imaging metrics were investigated by exploring the Pearson correlation coefficients between CBF and BOLD-derived quantitative maps (ALFF, fALFF, DCP maps). Three types of NVC metrics (CBF-ALFF, CBF-fALFF, CBF-DCP coupling) were compared between ADHD and TDs group, and the inner association between altered NVC metrics and clinical variables in ADHD group was further analyzed. Compared to TDs, ADHD showed significantly reduced whole-brain CBF-ALFF coupling (P < 0.001). Among regional level (all PFDR < 0.05), ADHD showed significantly lower CBF-ALFF coupling in bilateral thalamus, default-mode network (DMN) involving left anterior cingulate (ACG.L) and right parahippocampal gyrus (PHG.R), execution control network (ECN) involving right middle orbital frontal gyrus (ORBmid.R) and right inferior frontal triangular gyrus (IFGtriang.R), and increased CBF-ALFF coupling in attention network (AN)-related left superior temporal gyrus (STG.L) and somatosensory network (SSN))-related left rolandic operculum (ROL.L). Furthermore, increased CBF-fALFF coupling was found in the visual network (VN)-related left cuneus and negatively correlated with the concentration index of ADHD (R = − 0.299, PFDR = 0.035). Abnormal regional NVC metrics were at widespread neural networks in ADHD, mainly involved in DMN, ECN, SSN, AN, VN and bilateral thalamus. Notably, this study reinforced the insights into the neural basis and pathophysiological mechanism underlying ADHD.
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Data availability
Data generated or analyzed during the study are available from the corresponding author by request.
Abbreviations
- ADHD:
-
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
- TD:
-
Typically developing
- NVC:
-
Neurovascular coupling
- BOLD:
-
Blood oxygenation level dependent
- ASL:
-
Arterial spin labeling
- CBF:
-
Cerebral blood flow
- ALFF:
-
Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation
- fALFF:
-
Fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation
- DC:
-
Degree centrality
- DMN:
-
Default-mode network
- AN:
-
Attention network
- SN:
-
Salience network
- SSN:
-
Somatosensory network
- VN:
-
Visual network
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Natural Science Fund Youth Science Fund Project of China [grant number 82001439], the Natural Science Fund Project of Guangdong Province [grant numbers 2022A1515011910] and the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation, China (No.2020A1515011436). We would like to thank the participants and their families and the staff at the MRI at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University for all their help and support.
Funding
This work was supported by the Natural Science Fund Youth Science Fund Project of China [grant numbers 82001439], the Natural Science Fund Project of Guangdong Province [grant numbers 2022A1515 011910], and the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation, China (No.2020A1515011436).
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Shu Su, Yingqian Chen, Jing Zhao and Zhiyun Yang wrote the main manuscript text. Shu Su, Yingqian Chen, Yan Dai, Long Qian, Wei Cui and Liping Lin prepared figures 1-5. Qin Zhou, Zi Yan, Hongyu Zhang and Meina Liu collected the imaging and clinical data. All authors reviewed the manuscript.
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This study was approved by the institutional review board of our institution (No. [2019]328). Written informed consent was obtained from the guardians of all the subjects and their guardians in this study.
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Su, S., Zhao, J., Dai, Y. et al. Altered neurovascular coupling in the children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a comprehensive fMRI analysis. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 33, 1081–1091 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-023-02238-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-023-02238-0