Study Shows the ADHD Brain Matures Differently

Ongoing ADD/ADHD research continues to show variations in children’s brain development. During an imaging study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers found that brains matured at a slower pace for children with ADHD. While the brains of ADHD children matured at a normal pattern, development was delayed by about three years compared to non-ADHD children.

In November 2007, the NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health reported the results of their imaging study which involved 446 participants ranging in age from preschool to young adults. The brain of each participant was scanned at least twice at about three-year intervals.

Among the 223 participants with ADHD, development was mostly delayed in the brain’s cortex, the area of the brain that enables the ability to control attention, thinking, and planning. On the other hand, the motor cortex was the only area of the brain that matured faster than average in ADHD children. Researchers said this might account for the fidgeting and restlessness noticed in young ADHD patients. Otherwise, both the ADHD group and the non-ADHD group showed similar brain maturation.

While brain scans are not advanced enough at this time to diagnose or treat ADHD, the findings in this study support theories that brain developmental differences are central to what causes ADHD.