Cortical morphology as a shared neurobiological substrate of attention-deficit/hyperactivity symptoms and executive functioning: A population-based pediatric neuroimaging study

Background: attention-deficit/hyperactivity symptoms have repeatedly been associated with poor cognitive functioning. genetic studies have demonstrated a shared etiology of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (adhd) and cognitive ability,suggesting a common underlying neurobiology of adhd and cognition. further,neuroimaging studies suggest that altered cortical development is related to adhd. in a large population-based sample we investigated whether cortical morphology,as a potential neurobiological substrate,underlies the association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity symptoms and cognitive problems. methods: the sample consisted of school-aged children with data on attention-deficit/hyperactivity symptoms,cognitive functioning and structural imaging. first,we investigated the association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity symptoms and different domains of cognition. next,we identified cortical correlates of attention-deficit/hyperactivity symptoms and related cognitive domains. finally,we studied the role of cortical thickness and gyrification in the behaviour–cognition associations. results: we included 776 children in our analyses. we found that attention-deficit/hyperactivity symptoms were associated specifically with problems in attention and executive functioning (ef; b = –0.041,95% confidence interval [ci] –0.07 to –0.01,p = 0.004). cortical thickness and gyrification were associated with both attention-deficit/hyperactivity symptoms and ef in brain regions that have been previously implicated in adhd. this partly explained the association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity symptoms and ef (bindirect = –0.008,bias-corrected 95% ci –0.018 to –0.001). limitations: the nature of our study did not allow us to draw inferences regarding temporal associations; longitudinal studies are needed for clarification. conclusion: in a large,population-based sample of children,we identified a shared cortical morphology underlying attention-deficit/hyperactivity symptoms and ef. © 2017 joule inc.