Motor Abnormalities in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder Are Associated With Regional Grey Matter Volumes

Abstract

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are associated with motor impairments, with some children holding a comorbid diagnosis of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). However, DCD is underdiagnosed in these populations and the volume abnormalities that contribute to explaining these motor impairments are poorly understood. In this study, motor abilities as measured by the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ) were compared between children with ADHD, children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children, aged 8–12 years old. Additionally, the association between the DCDQ scores (general coordination, fine motor/handwriting, control during movement, total) and regional volume abnormalities were explored in 6 regions of interest (pre-central gyrus, post-central gyrus, inferior parietal cortex, superior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, medial frontal gyrus), within each group and across all participants. Children with ASD and children with ADHD showed impaired motor abilities in all the DCDQ-derived scores compared to TD children. Additionally, most children with ASD or ADHD had an indication or suspicion of DCD. Within the ASD group, coordination abilities were associated with the volume of the right medial frontal gyrus, and within the ADHD group, the total DCDQ score was associated with the volume of the right superior frontal gyrus. This study underlines the importance of routinely checking motor abilities in populations with ASD or ADHD in clinical practise and contributes to the understanding of structural abnormalities subtending motor impairments in these disorders.

Common and distinct cortical thickness alterations in youth with autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

“…Motor cortices use sensory information to generate adaptive behavioral plans [ 86 ] and have been linked to hyperactivity and impulsivity in ADHD [ 87 , 88 ]. Motor planning, both in its precision and implementation, is altered in ADHD and can contribute to developmental delay of higher-order motor control and impulsivity in ADHD.…”

Emerging signs of autism spectrum disorder in infancy: Putative neural substrate

“…Children, young people, and adults with ASD often show impaired motor skills 50–52 . Their motor behaviour is especially characterized by impaired planning of movements, in particular complex movements 53 .…”

“…Children, young people, and adults with ASD often show impaired motor skills. 50 , 51 , 52 Their motor behaviour is especially characterized by impaired planning of movements, in particular complex movements. 53 The impairments frequently qualify for the diagnosis of developmental coordination disorder but often this diagnosis is not provided due to a lack of attention to motor problems.…”

“… 54 The review noted that the cerebellum received little research attention. 54 Recent studies on the neural substrate of motor impairments in individuals with ASD indicated involvement of the prefrontal 50 and parietal cortices, 55 cerebellum, 56 and corticospinal tract. 57 The latter study indicated that the corticospinal projections from the primary motor cortex were not involved; only projections originating in the premotor and supplementary motor cortices were affected.…”

Spiral drawing deficits in children with prenatal alcohol exposure

“…The graphonomic skills of handwriting and drawing used by children each school day to record, communicate, and represent information are critically important to academic performance. With an estimated 7–15% of school‐age children experiencing some form of writing and drawing deficit (termed dysgraphia) (Döhla & Heim, 2016), there has been considerable interest in assessing these skills in typically developing children (Steinhart et al, 2021) as well as children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (Rosenblum et al, 2008), autism spectrum disorder (Saenz et al, 2021), developmental coordination disorder (Biotteau et al, 2019), dyslexia (Galli et al, 2019), low vision (Guven & Usyal, 2022), and tic disorder (Simpson et al, 2020).…”