ADHD’s Brain Trail: Cerebral clues emerge for attention disorder
By Bruce Bower
Scientists have identified brain alterations that may underlie attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a psychiatric condition that affects 3 percent to 6 percent of U.S. school children.
Children and teenagers with ADHD possess less tissue in parts of the brain’s prefrontal and temporal lobes than those without psychiatric disorders do, neurologist Elizabeth R. Sowell of the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine and her coworkers have found. In addition, kids with ADHD display an excessive density of the neuron-rich tissue known as gray matter in regions of cortex toward the back of the brain, the scientists report. The cortex is the brain’s outer layer.