Cited by 316Attention Deficit Hyperactivity DisorderNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesMind wandering and attention

A lack of default network suppression is linked to increased distractibility in ADHD

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Fassbender, Catherine, Zhang, Hao, Buzy, Wendy M., Cortes, Carlos R., Mizuiri, Danielle, Beckett, Laurel, Schweitzer, Julie B.·2009·Brain Research

Abstract

Heightened distractibility in participants with ADHD as indexed by increased reaction time (RT) variability has been hypothesized to be due to a failure to sufficiently suppress activation in the default attention network during cognitively demanding situations. The present study utilized fMRI to examine the relationship between intra-individual variability (IIV) in task RT and suppression of BOLD response in regions of the default network, using a working memory paradigm and two levels of control tasks. IIV was calculated separately for thirteen healthy control and twelve children with ADHD, Combined Type. Children with ADHD displayed significantly more RT variability than controls. Neural measures showed that although both groups displayed a pattern of increasing deactivation of the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) with increasing task difficulty, the ADHD group was significantly less deactive than controls. Correlations between IIV and brain activation suggested that greater variability was associated with a failure to deactivate ventromedial PFC with increasing task difficulty. T-tests on brain activation between participants with ADHD with low versus high IIV implicated a similar region so that high variability was associated with greater activity in this region. These data provide support for the theory that increased distractibility in at least some participants with ADHD may be due to an inability to sufficiently suppress activity in the default attention network in response to increasing task difficulty.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.brainres.2009.02.070

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  • In parametric fMRI task designs, ADHD children and adults, unlike controls, do not progressively deactivate anterior (vmPFC) and/or posterior default mode regions (PPC) with increasing WM or attention load.

    “Thus, in parametric fMRI task designs, ADHD children and adults, unlike controls, do not progressively deactivate anterior (ventromedial prefrontal cortex, vmPFC) and/or posterior default mode regions (PPC) with increasing WM or attention load, respectively (Fassbender et al., 2009; Christakou et al., 2013; Salavert et al., 2015).”

    From Cognitive Neuroscience of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Its Clinical Translation (2018) · cites this paper as Fassbender et al., 2009

    The Results (§2.2) report that both ADHD and control children showed greater ACC and PFC deactivation in the more demanding task, with no significant group-by-task interaction. ADHD children showed less overall medial PFC deactivation than controls, not an absence of progressive deactivation. The Discussion (§3) also reports no group difference in posterior cingulate deactivation; this study examined children, not adults. (LLM, conf=0.90)

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  • Poor deactivation of the DMN during cognitive tasks is a typical feature of ADHD and may contribute to poor task performance and enhanced distractibility.

    “These findings of enhanced activation of DMN regions confirm recent evidence that poor deactivation of the DMN during cognitive tasks is a typical feature of ADHD and may contribute to poor task performance and enhanced distractibility (Fassbender et al., 2009; Christakou et al., 2013; Salavert et al., 2015).”

    From Cognitive Neuroscience of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Its Clinical Translation (2018) · cites this paper as Fassbender et al., 2009

    The Discussion (page not provided) reports less medial prefrontal deactivation during demanding tasks in children with ADHD, associated with greater reaction-time variability; the paper suggests this may contribute to distractibility. Calling poor DMN deactivation a typical feature of ADHD goes beyond this small study: the authors limit their conclusion to at least some participants, and group differences were found in medial PFC, not all DMN regions. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • Problems to deactivate the DMN during cognitive functions have been associated with more attention lapses, both in normal development and in ADHD.

    “and problems to deactivate the DMN during cognitive functions have been associated with more attention lapses, both in normal development and in ADHD (Broyd et al., 2009; Fassbender et al., 2009; Christakou et al., 2013).”
  • These impairments often manifest as increased distractibility or elevated mind-wandering, as well as hyperactivity of the default network and weaker anticorrelations with networks involved in external attention.

    “These impairments often manifest as increased distractibility or elevated levels of mind-wandering,212,228–231 as well as hyperactivity of the DN and weaker anticorrelations with networks involved in external attention.146–148,229,232–235”
  • Children with ADHD are less able to deactivate the default mode network than controls, and this inability is directly related to reaction time variability.

    “Children with ADHD have also been shown to be less able to deactivate the DMN than controls, and this inability to deactivate the DMN has been directly related to RTV [77].”

    From Reaction Time Variability in ADHD: A Review (2012) · cites this paper as [77]

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Schweitzer JB Fassbender C Cortes CR Tagamets MA Windsor A Reeves G Carter CS Gullapalli R Working memory processing in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is characterized by a lack of specialization of brain function under review PMC3213127 22102882

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Authors
Fassbender, C., Zhang, H., Buzy, W. M., Cortes, C. R., Mizuiri, D., Beckett, L., & Schweitzer, J. B.
Affiliations
  • University of California Davis Medical Center (US)
  • University of California, Davis (US)
Venue
Brain Research
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2009-06
Volume
1273
Pages
114-128
ISSN
0006-8993 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1983208632
Cited by
316
References
76
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 32 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 24
FWCI
11.51
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Brain Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH066310)
  • National Center for Research Resources (UL1RR024146)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Mind wandering and attention
Keywords
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, distractibility, default mode network, reaction time variability, within-person variability, medial prefrontal cortex, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, neural deactivation, task difficulty, working memory, children
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Attention, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Brain, Brain Mapping, Child, Cognition, Female, Gyrus Cinguli, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Mental Processes, Nerve Net, Neural Inhibition, Neuropsychological Tests, Reaction Time, Normal Distribution, Prefrontal Cortex

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