Response Inhibition in Children with Different Subtypes/Presentations of Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a Near-infrared Spectroscopy Study

Objective:This study aimed to explore the activation of the prefrontal cortex in children with different subtypes of ADHD during executive function task. Methods: Participants in this study include typically developing (TD) children (n = 140)，ADHD-predominantly inattentive(ADHD-PI)（n=39) and ADHD-combined(ADHD-C) (n=24). To examine the executive function of ADHD, the Go/No-go task is chosen to assess the response inhibition function. The activation of PFC in all participants during the Go/No-go task was recorded by fNIRS. Meanwhile, behavioral data were also recorded. Results: Both TD and ADHD children activated the right PFC (middle frontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus) during response inhibition. However, the range and degree of activation differed among these groups. Compared with TD children, those with ADHD-PI had a smaller extent of activation in the right prefrontal cortex, and those with ADHD-C only had a tendency to enhance activation. In addition, children with ADHD-PI and ADHD-C had impaired activation of the left middle temporal gyrus, and those with ADHD-PI also had impaired activation of the right precentral gyrus(FG) and supplementary motor area(SMA). The activation of ch34 (rPFC) in children with ADHD-PI and ADHD-C was negatively correlated with their clinical symptoms. Conclusion：The activation of the PFC in children with different subtypes of ADHD has both commonalities and differences. The degree of activation of the right prefrontal ch34 in children with ADHD is negatively correlated with clinical symptoms. fNIRS could be served as a candidate biomarker for the diagnosis of ADHD.