Jonathan Posner, M.D.

Fellow in Child & Adolescent ADHD

Project Details

PROJECT TITLE

Inhibitory Control and Emotional Regulation: An fMRI Study of the Neural Heterogeneity of ADHD

PROJECT SUMMARY

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is inarguably a diverse disorder with multiple biological causes and mechanisms.  Indeed, no single cognitive or neurobiological deficit can be identified in all children with the disorder.  Rather, certain domains of functioning are impaired in some ADHD youth whereas other ADHD youth are better characterized by deficits in other domains.

Our study will use neuropsychological and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques to investigate the heterogeneity of ADHD.  To date, most functional neuroimaging studies of ADHD have focused largely on deficits in impulse control, yet numerous behavioral studies suggest that deficits in impulse control apply to only a portion of children suffering with the disorder. For other ADHD children, their symptoms seem to emerge not from poor impulse control but instead from abnormal emotional regulation.  Our study will examine the heterogeneity of ADHD by attempting to disentangle these two neuropsychological domains – impulse control and emotional regulation – and identify their relationship with ADHD symptoms. Our study will examine in a single population of ADHD youth the hypothesis that two, distinct neural input pathways can each lead to ADHD.  In doing so, our study explores the leading hypotheses regarding the neural heterogeneity of ADHD and offers an essential step toward clarifying the neurobiology of this complex disorder.

Read Researcher’s Biography