Efficiency of the Prefrontal Cortex During Working Memory in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Abstract
Objective Previous research has demonstrated that during task conditions requiring an increase in inhibitory function or working memory, children and adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) exhibit greater and more varied prefrontal cortical (PFC) activation compared to age-matched control participants. This pattern may reflect cortical inefficiency. We examined this hypothesis using a working memory task in a group of adolescent girls with and without ADHD.Method Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to investigate blood oxygenated level-dependent signal during a working memory task for 10 adolescents from each group, ages 11 to 17 years. We analyzed brain-behavior relationships with anatomically defined regions of interest in the PFC and primary motor cortex.Results The relationship between brain activity in the dorsolateral PFC and ventrolateral PFC and memory retrieval speed differed by group membership, whereby comparison girls had a more efficient brain-behavior relationship than girls with ADHD. There were no such group differences in brain-behavior relationships for primary motor cortex.Conclusions These findings lend support to the idea that cognitive and behavioral deficits experienced by children and adolescents with ADHD may in part be related to relatively low efficiency of PFC function.
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A study including only female ADHD adolescents found no differences in WM-related brain activation.
“The findings are in line with another study including only female ADHD adolescents that also found no differences in WM-related brain activation (Sheridan et al., 2007).”
From Cognitive Neuroscience of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Its Clinical Translation (2018) · cites this paper as Sheridan et al., 2007
Neuroimaging studies show abnormal prefrontal and parietal cortex functioning in children with ADHD during working memory tasks.
“Neuroimaging studies reveal abnormal PFC and parietal cortex functioning in children with ADHD during WM tasks [5-9, 39, 40].”
From Will Working Memory Training Generalize to Improve Off-Task Behavior in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder? (2012) · cites this paper as [8]
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ADHD and the Prefrontal Cortex
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- Authors
- SHERIDAN, M. A., HINSHAW, S., & D'ESPOSITO, M.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Corresponding author
- SHERIDAN, MARGARET A.
- Venue
- Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2007-10
- Volume
- 46
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1357-1366
- ISSN
- 0890-8567 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2006442670
- Cited by
- 90
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 6 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 5.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- NIH (MH45064 (S.H.), MH63901, NS40813 (M.D.))
- NIMH (MH62997)
- 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 › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Keywords
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, working memory, prefrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, primary motor cortex, brain-behavior relationship, adolescents, inhibitory function
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Child, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Memory Disorders, Neuropsychological Tests, Reaction Time, Severity of Illness Index, Prefrontal Cortex
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