Gray Matter Volume in Elderly adults With ADHD: Associations of Symptoms and Comorbidities With Brain Structures

Objective: To investigate total and selected region-of-interest-based gray matter volume (GMV) in older adults with ADHD. Method: Twenty-five elderly (>= 65 years old) patients with ADHD and 34 healthy controls underwent 1.5-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We used voxel-based morphometry to compare GMV between groups and performed a correlation analysis with ADHD symptoms and comorbidities. Results: Findings revealed a smaller total GMV in males with ADHD and a smaller GMV in the right medial frontal orbital area extending toward the medial frontal superior, the frontal superior, and the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) besides correlations between inattentiveness and ACC (bilaterally) and left cerebellum, hyperactivity/impulsivity and the left frontal inferior orbital, depression and caudate (bilaterally), and the right inferior parietal lobule. Conclusion: Neural correlates in regions related to attention, executive control, and affective processing suggest that impairments in frontostriatal and frontoparietal-cerebellar areas observed in adults with ADHD persist into old age.

Automated summary

The study investigated total and selected region-of-interest-based gray matter volume (GMV) in older adults with ADHD. Findings showed smaller GMV in regions related to attention, executive control, and affective processing, indicating that impairments in frontostriatal and frontoparietal-cerebellar areas observed in adults with ADHD persist into old age. Correlation analysis also revealed associations between specific symptoms and certain brain regions, highlighting the lasting impact of ADHD on neural correlates in old age.