Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Brain Development in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

March 18, 2007 updated by: UMC Utrecht
The primary purpose of this study is to investigate brain whether ADHD represents a disruption or a delay of brain development. Children and adolescents both with and without ADHD are asked to participate in several MRI sessions, two years apart. This will allow us to chart brain development over time, both in typical development and ADHD, and therefore to address whether ADHD represents a disruption or a delay of typical brain development.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Detailed Description

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common and impairing neuropsychiatric disorder of childhood, occurring in 3 to 5% of all school-age children. This disorder is associated with greater risks for low academic achievement, school dropouts, poor family and peer relations, aggression, substance abuse, driving accidents and chronic problems in adult adaptation. As such, it has an enormous impact on the utilization of medical and health care services, and the direct and indirect costs of this disorder are high. However, in a large number of children symptoms dissipate as they grow up and they go on to function normally and lead typical lives. This has lead to speculation that ADHD may not so much represent a disruption, as a delay of brain development. This aim of this study is to address this issue.

There is a growing body of research supporting the existence of deficits in brain anatomy associated with ADHD, with evidence of reductions in overall brain size, cortical gray matter and subcortical structures. However, reported effect sizes are small and results not always consistent. Anatomical MRI studies may be easily confounded, as brain development is complex and associated with both progressive and regressive changes in brain anatomy. In this study, we propose to combine longitudinal data from a large cohort of children and adolescents with state-of-the-art imaging methods (including diffusion tensor imaging and voxelbased morphometry) to investigate brain development in ADHD. This will allow us to address the question whether ADHD represents a disruption or a delay of brain development.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment

400

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Netherlands
      • Utrecht, Netherlands
        • Recruiting
        • Dept. of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, UMC Utrecht
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Janna van Belle, M.Sc.
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Patrick de Zeeuw, M.Sc.

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

6 years to 20 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Aged 6 - 18 years at initial MRI

Inclusion Criteria for Subjects with ADHD:

  • DSM-IV (APA, 1994) diagnosis of ADHD, according to DISC interview
  • Scores in the clinical range on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Teacher Rating Form(TRF)

Inclusion Criteria for Controls:

  • No DSM-IV (APA, 1994) diagnosis, according to DISC interview
  • No scores in the clinical range on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Teacher Rating Form (TRF)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • IQ < 70
  • Major illness of the cardiovascular, the endocrine, the pulmonal or the gastrointestinal system
  • Presence of metal objects in or around the body (pacemaker, dental braces)
  • History of or present neurological disorder
  • For individuals over 12 years of age: legal incompetence, defined as the obvious inability to comprehend the information that is presented by the investigator and is outlined in the Information letter and on which the decision to participate in the study is to be based

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

UMC Utrecht

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Sarah Durston, Ph.D., Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht
  • Study Chair: Herman van Engeland, M.D. Ph.D., Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

August 1, 2005

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 31, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 31, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

September 2, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

March 20, 2007

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 18, 2007

Last Verified

March 1, 2007

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • METC 05/036

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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