Cortical Maturation Is Delayed in Children with ADHD

Children with ADHD exhibited a median 3-year delay in brain maturation compared with typically developing controls.

Since the earliest descriptions of ADHD, controversy has persisted about whether ADHD results from a delay in brain maturation or a deviation from normal brain development. To help resolve this issue, researchers compared cortical thickness (as an index of cortical maturation) among children with and without ADHD. In typically developing children, cortical thickness increases in a predictable pattern and at a predictable rate and then thins during adolescence.

Neuroanatomic imaging with magnetic resonance scans was performed on 223 children with ADHD (mean age, 10.2 years) and 223 typically developing children without ADHD (mean age, 10.6 years). Most children had more than one scan, with a mean interval of 2.8 years between scans. Mean inte…

Reviewing Author

Martin T. Stein, MD

Disclosures

Consultant / Advisory boardPearson Neuroscience Advisory Board

Speaker’s bureauAmerican Academy of Pediatrics

RoyaltiesElsevier, Inc.

Editorial boardsJournal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics

Martin T. Stein, MD

Disclosures

Consultant / Advisory boardPearson Neuroscience Advisory Board

Speaker’s bureauAmerican Academy of Pediatrics

RoyaltiesElsevier, Inc.

Editorial boardsJournal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics