title: Connectivity differences between adult male and female patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder according to resting-state functional MRI.
abstract: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a pervasive psychiatric disorder that affects both children and adults. Adult male and female patients with ADHD are differentially affected, but few studies have explored the differences. The purpose of this study was to quantify differences between adult male and female patients with ADHD based on neuroimaging and connectivity analysis. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were obtained and preprocessed in 82 patients. Group-wise differences between male and female patients were quantified using degree centrality for different brain regions. The medial-, middle-, and inferior-frontal gyrus, superior parietal lobule, precuneus, supramarginal gyrus, superior- and middle-temporal gyrus, middle occipital gyrus, and cuneus were identified as regions with significant group-wise differences. The identified regions were correlated with clinical scores reflecting depression and anxiety and significant correlations were found. Adult ADHD patients exhibit different levels of depression and anxiety depending on sex, and our study provides insight into how changes in brain circuitry might differentially impact male and female ADHD patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Bo-Yong
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: School of Electronic Electrical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea; Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research (CNIR), Institute for Basic Science, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyunjin
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5681-8918
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Park
keywords: anxiety; attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; connectivity; degree centrality; depression; diagnostic and statistical manual score; functional magnetic resonance imaging; network analysis; neural regeneration; sex difference