Anxiety modulates the relation between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder severity and working memory-related brain activity

Summary & key facts

Researchers scanned the brains of 371 adolescents and young adults (average age 17.1) while they did a visuospatial working memory task. They found that anxiety changed how ADHD symptom severity related to brain activity. Specifically, higher anxiety altered the link between ADHD severity and working-memory-related activity in the cerebellum, and altered the link for memory load in both sides of the striatum and thalamus. The authors report that ADHD plus anxiety was associated with lower activity in these regions, which the paper links to processes that gate information during working memory. These results are associations from one study and do not prove cause and effect.

Key facts:

• Sample size was 371 adolescents and young adults. The average age was 17.1 years.
• The study used a visuospatial working memory (VSWM) task during fMRI and analysed whole-brain activity contrasts (VSWM versus baseline, and high versus low memory load).
• Anxiety significantly changed the relation between ADHD severity and working-memory-related neural activity in the cerebellum.
• Anxiety significantly changed the relation between ADHD severity and memory-load-related neural activity bilaterally in the striatum and thalamus.
• The authors report that ADHD with co-occurring anxiety was associated with lowered neural activity in those brain regions important for information gating during working memory.
• The paper notes that up to about 50% of people with ADHD have one or more anxiety disorders (background information cited by the authors).
• These findings are correlational. The study shows associations and does not prove that anxiety causes the brain differences reported.

Abstract

We found that ADHD with co-occurring anxiety is associated with lowered neural activity during a VSWM task in regions important for information gating. This fits well with previous theorising on ADHD with co-occurring anxiety, and illustrates the neurobiological heterogeneity of ADHD.

Topics

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Cognitive Functions and Memory Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Categories

Health Sciences Medicine Psychiatry and Mental health

Tags

Anxiety Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Audiology Clinical psychology Cognition Cognitive psychology Medicine Neural correlates of consciousness Neuroimaging Neuroscience Psychiatry Psychology Working memory Working memory training

Conditions & symptoms

Anxiety Anxiety or worry Difficulty focusing