title: What to expect and when to expect it: an fMRI study of expectancy in children with ADHD symptoms.
abstract: Changes in cognitive control and timing have both been implicated in ADHD. Both are involved in building and monitoring expectations about the environment, and altering behavior if those expectations are violated. In ADHD, problems with expectations about future events have high face validity, as this would be associated with behavior that is inappropriate only given a certain context, similar to symptoms of the disorder. In this fMRI study, we used a timing manipulated go/nogo task to assess brain activity related to expectations about what (cognitive control) and when (timing) events would occur. We hypothesized that problems in building expectations about the environment are a more general, trans-diagnostic characteristic of children with hyperactive, impulsive and inattentive symptoms. To address this, we included children with ASD and symptoms of ADHD, in addition to children with ADHD and typically developing children. We found between-group differences in brain activity related to expectations about when (timing), but not what events will occur (cognitive control). Specifically, we found timing-related hypo-activity that was in part unique to children with a primary diagnosis of ADHD (left pallidum) and in part shared by children with similar levels of ADHD symptoms and a primary diagnosis of ASD (left subthalamic nucleus). Moreover, we found poorer task performance related to timing, but only in children with ASD and symptoms of ADHD. Ultimately, such neurobiological changes in children with ADHD symptoms may relate to a failure to build or monitor expectations and thereby hinder the efficiency of their interaction with the environment.
authors.affiliation: NICHE Lab, Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. b.hulstvan@ggzingeest.nl.
authors.forename: Branko M
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0693-8054
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: van Hulst
authors.affiliation: NICHE Lab, Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Zeeuw
authors.affiliation: NICHE Lab, Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Yvonne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rijks
authors.affiliation: NICHE Lab, Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sebastiaan F W
authors.initials: SFW
authors.lastname: Neggers
authors.affiliation: NICHE Lab, Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Durston
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006948:Hyperkinesis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis
keywords: ADHD; Children; Expectancy; Inhibition; Timing; fMRI