Deficits in task-related attentional engagement in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been hypothesized to be due to altered interrelationships between attention, default mode and salience networks. We examined the intrinsic connectivity during rest within and between these networks. Six minutes resting state scans were obtained. Using a network-based approach, connectivity within and between the dorsal and ventral attention, the default mode and the salience networks was compared between the ADHD and control group.The ADHD group displayed hyperconnectivity between the two attention networks and within the default mode and ventral attention network. The salience network was hypoconnected to the dorsal attention network. There were trends towards hyperconnectivity within the dorsal attention network and between the salience and ventral attention network in ADHD.Connectivity within and between other networks was unrelated to ADHD. Our findings highlight the altered connectivity within and between attention networks, and between them and the salience network in ADHD. One hypothesis to be tested in future studies is that individuals with ADHD are affected by an imbalance between ventral and dorsal attention systems with the former playing a dominant role during task engagement making individuals with ADHD highly susceptible to distraction by salient task-irrelevant stimuli.

The default mode network (DMN) is the core brain system supporting internally oriented cognition. The ability to attenuate the DMN when switching to externally oriented processing is a prerequisite for effective performance and adaptive self-regulation. Right anterior insula (rAI), a core hub of the salience network (SN), has been proposed to control the switching from DMN to task-relevant brain networks. Little is currently known about the extent of anticipatory processes subserved by DMN and SN during switching. We investigated anticipatory DMN and SN modulation using a novel cued-switching task of between-state (rest-to-task/task-to-rest) and within-state (task-to-task) transitions. Twenty healthy adults performed the task implemented in an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) design. Increases in activity were observed in the DMN regions in response to cues signalling upcoming rest. DMN attenuation was observed for rest-to-task switch cues. Obversely, DMN was up-regulated by task-to-rest cues. The strongest rAI response was observed to rest-to-task switch cues. Task-to-task switch cues elicited smaller rAI activation, whereas no significant rAI activation occurred for task-to-rest switches. Our data provide the first evidence that DMN modulation occurs rapidly and can be elicited by short duration cues signalling rest- and task-related state switches. The role of rAI appears to be limited to certain switch types - those implicating transition from a resting state and to tasks involving active cognitive engagement.

Prior studies demonstrate altered organization of functional brain networks in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, the structural underpinnings of these functional disturbances are poorly understood. In the current study, we applied a graph-theoretic approach to whole-brain diffusion magnetic resonance imaging data to investigate the organization of structural brain networks in adults with ADHD and unaffected controls using deterministic fiber tractography. Groups did not differ in terms of global network metrics — small-worldness, global efficiency and clustering coefficient. However, there were widespread ADHD-related effects at the nodal level in relation to local efficiency and clustering. The affected nodes included superior occipital, supramarginal, superior temporal, inferior parietal, angular and inferior frontal gyri, as well as putamen, thalamus and posterior cerebellum. Lower local efficiency of left superior temporal and supramarginal gyri was associated with higher ADHD symptom scores. Also greater local clustering of right putamen and lower local clustering of left supramarginal gyrus correlated with ADHD symptom severity. Overall, the findings indicate preserved global but altered local network organization in adult ADHD implicating regions underpinning putative ADHD-related neuropsychological deficits.

We found both similarities and differences between males and females in CD-cortical structure associations. This initial evidence that the pathophysiological basis of CD may be partly sex-specific highlights the need to consider sex in future neuroimaging studies and suggests that males and females may require different treatments.

Background. Individuals with ADHD display excess levels of default mode network (DMN)