Regional Gray Matter Volume Differences Between Adolescents With ADHD and Typically Developing Controls: Further Evidence for Anterior Cingulate Involvement

Objective: The present study investigated structural brain differences between adolescents with ADHD and matched control participants. Method: Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) using the DARTEL approach was performed to assess regional gray matter (GM) volumes. Additionally, individual performance on tests of attention was recorded to correlate ADHD related cognitive impairments with regional gray matter abnormalities. Results: We found significantly smaller GM volume in subjects with ADHD compared to their matched controls within the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), the occipital cortex, bilateral hippocampus/amygdala and in widespread cerebellar regions. Further, reductions of the ACC gray matter volume were found to correlate with scores of selective inattention. Conclusion: These findings underline that structural alterations in a widespread cortico-subcortical network seem to underlie the observable attention problems in patients with ADHD.