Ventromedial prefrontal volume in adolescence predicts hyperactive/inattentive symptoms in adulthood
Open accessAbstract
Youths with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptomatology often exhibit residual inattention and/or hyperactivity in adulthood; however, this is not true for all individuals. We recently reported that dimensional, multi-informant ratings of hyperactive/inattentive symptoms are associated with ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) structure. Herein, we investigate the degree to which vmPFC structure during adolescence predicts hyperactive/inattentive symptomatology at 5-year follow-up. Structural equation modeling was used to test the extent to which adolescent vmPFC volume predicts hyperactive/inattentive symptomatology 5 years later in early adulthood. 1104 participants (M = 14.52 years, standard deviation = 0.42; 583 females) possessed hyperactive/inattentive symptom data at 5-year follow-up, as well as quality controlled neuroimaging data and complete psychometric data at baseline. Self-reports of hyperactive/inattentive symptomatology were obtained during adolescence and at 5-year follow-up using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). At baseline and 5-year follow-up, a hyperactive/inattentive latent variable was derived from items on the SDQ. Baseline vmPFC volume predicted adult hyperactive/inattentive symptomatology (standardized coefficient = -0.274, P < 0.001) while controlling for baseline hyperactive/inattentive symptomatology. These results are the first to reveal relations between adolescent brain structure and adult hyperactive/inattentive symptomatology, and suggest that early structural development of the vmPFC may be consequential for the subsequent expression of hyperactive/inattentive symptoms.
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A second fronto-striatal circuit involving the nucleus accumbens and orbitofrontal cortex has been proposed to be associated with ADHD.
“a second fronto-striatal circuit involving the nucleus accumbens and orbitofrontal cortex has been proposed to be associated with ADHD (23–25).”
From Abnormal functional connectivity associated with emotional dysregulation in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (2025) · cites this paper as [24]
The Introduction links the orbitofrontal component of the vmPFC to ADHD, and the Discussion reports reduced ventral-striatal reward responses in ADHD samples. The Discussion mentions the nucleus accumbens only in a study of patients with vmPFC lesions, not ADHD; our copy does not explicitly propose the specific nucleus accumbens–orbitofrontal circuit described in the claim. Page numbers were not provided. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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Li, S., Luo, T., Wang, M., Situ, M., Liu, P., & Huang, Y. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1700693 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Albaugh, M. D., Ivanova, M., Chaarani, B., Orr, C., Allgaier, N., Althoff, R. R., D’ Alberto, N., Hudson, K., Mackey, S., Spechler, P. A., Banaschewski, T., Brühl, R., Bokde, A. L. W., Bromberg, U., Büchel, C., Cattrell, A., Conrod, P. J., Desrivières, S., Flor, H., Frouin, V., Gallinat, J., Goodman, R., Gowland, P., Grimmer, Y., Heinz, A., Kappel, V., Martinot, J.-L., Martinot, M.-L. P., Nees, F., Papadopoulos Orfanos, D., Penttilä, J., Poustka, L., Paus, T., Smolka, M. N., Struve, M., Walter, H., Whelan, R., Schumann, G., Garavan, H., & Potter, A. S.
- Affiliations
- University of Vermont (US)
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT, USA
- Heidelberg University (DE)
- Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (DE)
- Trinity College Dublin (IE)
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (DE)
- King's College London (GB)
- Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR)
- University of Nottingham (GB)
- Stiftung Charité (DE)
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (DE)
- Inserm (FR)
- Université Paris-Sud (FR)
- Neurospin, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique, CEA-Saclay Center, Paris, France
- University of Tampere (FI)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Neuroimaging Center (DE)
- University College Dublin (IE)
- Medical Research Council—Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK
- Corresponding author
- Albaugh, Matthew D
- ORCID
- Albaugh, Matthew D
- Ivanova, Masha
- Chaarani, Bader
- Orr, Catherine
- Allgaier, Nicholas
- Althoff, Robert R
- Hudson, Kelsey
- Mackey, Scott
- Spechler, Philip A
- Banaschewski, Tobias
- Brühl, Rüdiger
- Bokde, Arun L W
- Bromberg, Uli
- Büchel, Christian
- Conrod, Patricia J
- Desrivières, Sylvane
- Flor, Herta
- Frouin, Vincent
- Gallinat, Jürgen
- Goodman, Robert
- Gowland, Penny
- Grimmer, Yvonne
- Heinz, Andreas
- Martinot, Jean-Luc
- Martinot, Marie-Laure Paillère
- Nees, Frauke
- Penttilä, Jani
- Poustka, Luise
- Paus, Tomáš
- Smolka, Michael N
- Struve, Maren
- Walter, Henrik
- Whelan, Robert
- Garavan, Hugh
- Potter, Alexandra S
- Venue
- Cerebral Cortex
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2018-04-18
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 1866-1874
- ISSN
- 1047-3211 (ISSN-L)
- 1460-2199
- PMC
- PMC6458906
- OpenAlex
- W2788222625
- Cited by
- 24
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 1.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model (vor)
- Locations
- Cerebral Cortex (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Nottingham ePrints (University of Nottingham) (acceptedVersion)
- Repository@Nottingham (University of Nottingham) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Swinburne figshare (Swinburne University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Bristol-Myers Squibb
- Eli Lilly and Company
- AstraZeneca
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
- Wellcome Trust (U54 EB020403)
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (eMED SysAlc01ZX1311A, SFB 940/1, SM 80/7-2, SM 80/7-1, 01EV0711, 01GS08152, U54 EB020403, SysAlc01ZX1311A)
- King's College London (LSHM-CT- 2007-037286, 115300-2, 93558, 115300)
- European Commission (602450, U54 EB020403, SFB 940, 115300, SM 80/7-2, RO1 MH085772-01A1, 603016, MR/N000390/1, LSHMCT-2007-037286, 01EV0711, 602805)
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB) 940/1, LSHM-CT-2007-037286, U54 EB020403, MR/N000390/1, 01GS08152, SM 80/7–2, 602805, RO1 MH085772-01A1, 01EV0711, SM 80/7-1, SFB940)
- Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas (MR/N000390/1)
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (eMED SysAlc01ZX1311A, U54 EB020403, RO1 MH085772-01A1, MR/N000390/1, SFB 940/1, LSHM-CT-2007-037286, SFB 940, 01GS08152, SysAlc01ZX1311A, SM 80/7-2, 01EV0711)
- Vifor Pharma
- Forskningsrådet om Hälsa, Arbetsliv och Välfärd
- National Institutes of Health (SFB 940, SM 80/7-2, LSHM-CT-2007-037286, 01GS08152, MR/N000390/1, 01EV0711, MH085772‐01A1, EB020403, RO1 MH085772-01A1)
- Medical Research Council (MR/N000390/1, RO1 MH085772-01A1, 115300, LSHM-CT-2007-037286, SFB 940/1, 01EV0711, 01GS08152, 93558, SM 80/7-2, SM 80/7-1, SFB 940, eMED SysAlc01ZX1311A, U54 EB020403)
- National Institute of Mental Health (L40 MH108486, R01MH085772)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (P50DA036114)
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (P20GM103644)
- National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (U54EB020403)
- Cilag
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- ventromedial prefrontal cortex, brain volume, adolescence, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, early adulthood, structural brain development, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, brain development
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Attention, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Organ Size, Psychomotor Agitation, Prefrontal Cortex, Young Adult
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