Effects of Pharmacotherapy, Neurodevelopment, Sex and Structural Asymmetry on Regional Intrinsic Homotopic Connectivity in Youths with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Abstract

Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have long demonstrated a high degree of correlated activity between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Interregional correlations between the time series of each brain voxel or region and its homotopic pair have recently been identified by methods such as homotopic resting-state functional connectivity (H-RSFC). However, little is known about whether interhemispheric regions in patients with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are functionally abnormal. The aim of this thesis is to examine the association between H-RSFC and medication status, age, sex, and volumetric asymmetry index (AI). In our approach, region-based activity was obtained using three different methods. To test for associations, two linear mixed-effects models were used. Across results, H-RSFC variation was found in subcortical regions and portions of cortical regions. In addition, changes in functional connectivity were found to be linked with structural asymmetry in two cortical regions. More importantly, shifting in homotopic functional activation was found as a result of medication intake in youths with ADHD. These findings demonstrate the utility of homotopic resting-state functional connectivity for measuring differences among pharmacotherapy intake, gender, neurodevelopment, and structural asymmetry.