Network-Based Differences in Top–Down Multisensory Integration between Adult ADHD and Healthy Controls—A Diffusion MRI Study

Brain Sciences, vol. 13, pp. 388

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder neurobiologically conceptualized as a network disorder in white and gray matter. A relatively new branch in ADHD research is sensory processing. Here, altered sensory processing i.e., sensory hypersensitivity, is reported, especially in the auditory domain. However, our perception is driven by a complex interplay across different sensory modalities. Our brain is specialized in binding those different sensory modalities to a unified percept-a process called multisensory integration (MI) that is mediated through fronto-temporal and fronto-parietal networks. MI has been recently described to be impaired for complex stimuli in adult patients with ADHD. The current study relates MI in adult ADHD with diffusion-weighted imaging. Connectome-based and graph-theoretic analysis was applied to investigate a possible relationship between the ability to integrate multimodal input and network-based ADHD pathophysiology. METHODS: Multishell, high-angular resolution diffusion-weighted imaging was performed on twenty-five patients with ADHD (six females, age: 30.08 (SD: 9.3) years) and twenty-four healthy controls (nine females; age: 26.88 (SD: 6.3) years). Structural connectome was created and graph theory was applied to investigate ADHD pathophysiology. Additionally, MI scores, i.e., the percentage of successful multisensory integration derived from the McGurk paradigm, were groupwise correlated with the structural connectome. RESULTS: Structural connectivity was elevated in patients with ADHD in network hubs mirroring altered default-mode network activity typically reported for patients with ADHD. Compared to controls, MI was associated with higher connectivity in ADHD between Heschl's gyrus and auditory parabelt regions along with altered fronto-temporal network integrity. CONCLUSION: Alterations in structural network integrity in adult ADHD can be extended to multisensory behavior. MI and the respective network integration in ADHD might represent the maturational cortical delay that extends to adulthood with respect to sensory processing.

Authors 10

1. Marcel Schulze corresponding

   University of Bonn · Bielefeld University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bonn, 53113 Bonn, Germany

   Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science, Bielefeld University, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany

2. Behrem Aslan

   University of Bonn

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bonn, 53113 Bonn, Germany

3. Ezequiel Farrher

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine 4, INM-4, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany

4. Farida Grinberg

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine 4, INM-4, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany

5. Nadim Jon Shah Aachen Department of Neurology

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, 50264 Aachen, Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine 11, INM–11, JARA, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine 4, INM-4, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany

   JARA-BRAIN-Translational Medicine, 52056 Aachen, Germany

6. Markus D. Schirmer

   Harvard University · University Hospital Bonn · Massachusetts General Hospital

   Affiliation as printed

   Clinic for Neuroradiology, University Hospital Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany

   J. Philip Kistler Stroke Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA

7. Alexander Radbruch

   University Hospital Bonn

   Affiliation as printed

   Clinic for Neuroradiology, University Hospital Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany

8. Tony Stöcker

   German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases

   Affiliation as printed

   German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), 53127 Bonn, Germany

9. Silke Lux

   University of Bonn

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bonn, 53113 Bonn, Germany

10. Alexandra Philipsen

    University of Bonn

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bonn, 53113 Bonn, Germany