Sex differences in attention deficit hyperactivity symptom severity and functional connectivity of the dorsal striatum in young adults

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) occurs more frequently and manifests with greater symptom severity in men than in women. Although studies have implicated basal ganglia dysfunction, the functional connectivity (FC) of the dorsal striatum (DS), particularly in terms of sex differences,...

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Main Authors: Yu Chen, Guangfei Li, Jaime S. Ide, Xingguang Luo, Chiang-Shan R. Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2021-06-01
Series:NeuroImage: Reports
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666956021000234
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author Yu Chen
Guangfei Li
Jaime S. Ide
Xingguang Luo
Chiang-Shan R. Li
author_facet Yu Chen
Guangfei Li
Jaime S. Ide
Xingguang Luo
Chiang-Shan R. Li
author_sort Yu Chen
collection DOAJ
description Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) occurs more frequently and manifests with greater symptom severity in men than in women. Although studies have implicated basal ganglia dysfunction, the functional connectivity (FC) of the dorsal striatum (DS), particularly in terms of sex differences, has not been fully investigated in ADHD. Here, using resting state fMRI data of a large sample of adults (n = 744; 395 women; 22–36 years) curated from the Human Connectome Project, we performed seed-based correlations for caudate and lentiform nucleus (LN) FC. ADHD symptom severity was quantified with the Achenbach Adult Self-Report ADHD total score as well as inattention and hyperactivity subscores. Imaging data were processed with published routines and evaluated at a corrected threshold. Men showed significantly higher ADHD total score than women. In men, inattention was negatively associated with LN FC with the right superior frontal gyrus. In women, inattention was negatively associated with caudate FC with the right inferior parietal gyrus and positively with LN FC with the left inferior frontal gyrus, and hyperactivity was positively associated with LN FC with a cluster in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and supplementary motor area. Sex differences in most of these connectivity patterns were confirmed by slope tests. Further, k-means clustering of FC's identified 3 groups each in men and in women. In men, group 1 showed higher inattention and hyperactivity than both group 2 and 3, and group 2 showed higher inattention than group 3. In women, group 1 showed higher inattention and hyperactivity than group 3 and higher inattention than group 2, and group 2 showed higher hyperactivity than group 3. These findings together suggest sex differences in DS FC as neural markers of ADHD and potentially of ADHD subtypes, with men and women each showing altered FC predominantly in the executive control and ventral attention/saliency networks.
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spelling doaj-art-beb7cd57dbc54f16a3b01477bbb2fa002025-08-20T02:18:35ZengElsevierNeuroImage: Reports2666-95602021-06-011210002510.1016/j.ynirp.2021.100025Sex differences in attention deficit hyperactivity symptom severity and functional connectivity of the dorsal striatum in young adultsYu Chen0Guangfei Li1Jaime S. Ide2Xingguang Luo3Chiang-Shan R. Li4Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Corresponding author. Connecticut Mental Health Center S110, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA.Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, ChinaDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USADepartment of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USADepartment of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USAAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) occurs more frequently and manifests with greater symptom severity in men than in women. Although studies have implicated basal ganglia dysfunction, the functional connectivity (FC) of the dorsal striatum (DS), particularly in terms of sex differences, has not been fully investigated in ADHD. Here, using resting state fMRI data of a large sample of adults (n = 744; 395 women; 22–36 years) curated from the Human Connectome Project, we performed seed-based correlations for caudate and lentiform nucleus (LN) FC. ADHD symptom severity was quantified with the Achenbach Adult Self-Report ADHD total score as well as inattention and hyperactivity subscores. Imaging data were processed with published routines and evaluated at a corrected threshold. Men showed significantly higher ADHD total score than women. In men, inattention was negatively associated with LN FC with the right superior frontal gyrus. In women, inattention was negatively associated with caudate FC with the right inferior parietal gyrus and positively with LN FC with the left inferior frontal gyrus, and hyperactivity was positively associated with LN FC with a cluster in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and supplementary motor area. Sex differences in most of these connectivity patterns were confirmed by slope tests. Further, k-means clustering of FC's identified 3 groups each in men and in women. In men, group 1 showed higher inattention and hyperactivity than both group 2 and 3, and group 2 showed higher inattention than group 3. In women, group 1 showed higher inattention and hyperactivity than group 3 and higher inattention than group 2, and group 2 showed higher hyperactivity than group 3. These findings together suggest sex differences in DS FC as neural markers of ADHD and potentially of ADHD subtypes, with men and women each showing altered FC predominantly in the executive control and ventral attention/saliency networks.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666956021000234Dorsal striatumResting state fMRIFunctional connectivityADHDSex differences
spellingShingle Yu Chen
Guangfei Li
Jaime S. Ide
Xingguang Luo
Chiang-Shan R. Li
Sex differences in attention deficit hyperactivity symptom severity and functional connectivity of the dorsal striatum in young adults
NeuroImage: Reports
Dorsal striatum
Resting state fMRI
Functional connectivity
ADHD
Sex differences
title Sex differences in attention deficit hyperactivity symptom severity and functional connectivity of the dorsal striatum in young adults
title_full Sex differences in attention deficit hyperactivity symptom severity and functional connectivity of the dorsal striatum in young adults
title_fullStr Sex differences in attention deficit hyperactivity symptom severity and functional connectivity of the dorsal striatum in young adults
title_full_unstemmed Sex differences in attention deficit hyperactivity symptom severity and functional connectivity of the dorsal striatum in young adults
title_short Sex differences in attention deficit hyperactivity symptom severity and functional connectivity of the dorsal striatum in young adults
title_sort sex differences in attention deficit hyperactivity symptom severity and functional connectivity of the dorsal striatum in young adults
topic Dorsal striatum
Resting state fMRI
Functional connectivity
ADHD
Sex differences
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666956021000234
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