ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Integr. Neurosci.
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnint.2025.1591465
Effect of medication on the rostrolateral prefrontal oxygenation and thalamic volume asymmetry in youths with ADHD
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Translational Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Science & Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- 2Institute of Mental Health, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- 3Department of Pediatrics, Hanyang University Hospital, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- 4Hanyang Inclusive Clinic for Developmental Disorders, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- 5Department of Psychiatry, Hanyang University Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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Symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are closely associated with impaired executive function. Medication is the first-line treatment for ADHD, yet its effects on brain function and structure remain unclear. To investigate medication-related brain alterations in children with ADHD, we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy, which captures cortical hemodynamic activity, and structural magnetic resonance imaging, which measures subcortical volume. We investigated the differences in brain hemodynamic activity between 23 children with ADHD taking medication and 22 children who were not taking medication. Compared with the medicated ADHD group, the unmedicated ADHD group showed significantly reduced activation in the left rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (channel 9, p=0.01; channel 13, p=0.02) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (channel 14, p=0.01). The unmedicated group also exhibited a negative correlation between oxygenated hemoglobin and symptom severity, whereas the medicated group showed a positive correlation. Furthermore, abnormal asymmetry of the thalamic volume was reduced in the medicated group compared to the unmedicated group (p = 0.02). These findings suggest that increased prefrontal activation and reduced thalamic asymmetry may reflect medication-related improvements in inhibitory control in children with ADHD.
Keywords: ADHD, fNIRS, sMRI, Stroop Test, Rostrolateral prefrontal, asymmetry
Received: 11 Mar 2025; Accepted: 01 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kim, Kang, Jang, AHN, Won, Lee and Kim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Hyuna Kim, Department of Translational Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Science & Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Hyun Ju Lee, Department of Pediatrics, Hanyang University Hospital, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Johanna Inhyang Kim, Institute of Mental Health, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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