Large-scale Brain Organization During Cognitive Control in ADHD
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2020-03-14
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The purpose of this study is to test whether children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD) are impaired in the ability to flexibly adapt brain network organization in
response to shifting cognitive demands during the exertion of cognitive control, by assessing
changes in network dynamics resulting from stimulant administration in children with ADHD,
and how those changes relate to behavioral and symptom improvements. Subjects will be
children with ADHD aged 8-12. Subjects will participate in multiple testing sessions that
include: diagnosis and eligibility screening, neuropsychological and behavioral testing, and,
if eligible, MRI scans and a medication challenge. Children with ADHD who are enrolled in the
medication challenge will undergo one MRI scan on placebo and one MRI scan on stimulant
medication, counterbalanced and double-blind. Functional connectivity will be measured using
functional MRI and innovative graph theoretical analytic tools will be implemented. Network
metrics will be related to symptomatology and behavioral testing measures. It is hypothesized
that stimulant administration in children with ADHD will increase flexibility in network
reconfiguration in response to changing cognitive control demands as compared to when they
are on placebo. It is further hypothesized that the degree to which brain network
organization is changed will be related to the degree of improvement in cognitive control
performance.