Novel approach to evaluate central autonomic regulation in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Abstract

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most commonly diagnosed developmental disorders in childhood characterized by hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention. ADHD manifests in the child’s development by deficits in cognitive, executive and perceptor-motor functions, emotional regulation and social adaptation. Although the exact cause has not yet been known, the crucial role in the development of this disease plays the interaction of genetic, neurobiological and epigenetic factors. According to current knowledge, ADHD is defined as a biological dysfunction of central nervous system with genetically or organically defined deficits in noradrenergic and dopaminergic neurotransmission associated with structural abnormalities, especially in prefronto-striatal regions. In this context, a significant part of the difficulties could be due to a faulty control of fronto-striato-thalamo-cortical circuits important for attention, arousal and executive functions. Moreover, ADHD is associated with abnormal autonomic regulation. Specifically, reduced cardiac-linked parasympathetic activity associated with relative sympathetic dominance indexed by low heart rate variability can represent a noninvasive marker for prefrontal hypoactivity. However, the mechanisms underlying altered autonomic regulation in ADHD are still unknown. In this aspect, the evaluation of central autonomic regulation by noninvasive methods, namely pupillometry and eye-tracking, may provide novel information for better understanding of the neurobiological pathomechanisms leading to ADHD.

Oligoantigenic Diet Improves Children’s ADHD Rating Scale Scores Reliably in Added Video-Rating

“…Looking at the individual probands, participant 7 stood out as far as the child showed a threefold relative improvement before the diet. A possible, not further investigated, explanation for this could be a rather common intolerance of inhaled food allergens (notably cooked legumes) which may have emanated from the table neighbours' dishes at baseline, but not while the proband consumed his usual diet in the introductory test phase These effects might be modulated by the parasympathic system or/and involving emotion dysreguating domains (56)(57)(58)(59). Contributing interactive or external study-related psycho-social factors and a more supportive attention from household partners might also explain this effect (55).…”

Multi-omics approach reveals dysregulated genes during hESCs neuronal differentiation exposure to paracetamol

“…These findings provide evidence of transcriptomic dose-dependent effects of paracetamol exposure related to cellular response to toxic insults and fate-determination deviation queues at the Day 20. Furthermore, the results identified an impact of paracetamol exposure on the regulation of central, autonomic and sympathetic nervous system development, which are all central to fine-tuning human cognition and associated with ADHD (72–74).…”

Autonomic Dysfunction in Psychiatric Disorders

“…According to current knowledge, ADHD is defined as a biological dysfunction in the central nervous system, which is associated with genetic or organic deficiencies in noradrenergic and dopaminergic neurotransmission, particularly in prefronto-striatal regions, where control of attention, arousal, and executive functions is crucial. Altered autonomic regulation is also associated with ADHD (Sekaninova 2019).…”