Adult ADHD
Visual Abstract
ADHD related behaviors are associated with brain activation in the reward system
ADHD Symptoms and the Reward System
R Stark , E Bauer, C J Merz, M Zimmermann, M Reuter, M M Plichta, P Kirsch, K P Lesch, A J Fallgatter, D Vaitl, M J Herrmann
Summarized by:
May 25, 2023
study source
Neuropsychologia
Feb 2011
🔎
What they studied
Researchers wanted to examine whether ADHD-associated symptoms were associated with differences in brain activation.
💡
What they found
Healthy young women with more ADHD symptoms had less activation in their brains' reward regions when presented with rewarding situations.
👩⚕️
What this means
This study links ADHD symptoms with differences in the brain's reward system, consistent with previous studies.
ADHD related behaviors are associated with brain activation in the reward system
Objectives
Previous studies have linked ADHD with differences in how we process rewards. Our brain's reward system helps motivate and reward us when we accomplish our goals.
Those with ADHD often have difficulty motivating themselves and pursuing long-term goals. This study wanted to see whether this is reflected in the brain’s reward centers.
Study Quote
Neuroimaging studies on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) suggest dysfunctional reward processing, with hypo-responsiveness during reward anticipation in the reward system including the nucleus accumbens (NAcc).
Methods
Researchers used brain imaging to see where the brain was most active when faced with monetary rewards, punishment avoidance, and verbal feedback.
They recruited 31 healthy female undergraduate students with different levels of ADHD-related behavior. The study did not specifically study diagnosed ADHD; instead, they aimed to correlate ADHD symptoms with brain activation.
Study Quote
In this study, we investigated the association between ADHD related behaviors and the reward system using functional magnetic resonance imaging in a non-clinical sample. Participants were 31 healthy, female undergraduate students with varying levels of self-reported ADHD related behavio...
Show More
Results
As expected, researchers found that all three scenarios caused the brain's reward centers to become more active.
Monetary reward caused the most activity out of the three scenarios tested.
Those with stronger and more severe ADHD symptoms had significantly less activity in a specific part of their brain’s reward system in the three scenarios, suggesting that ADHD symptoms are associated with biological differences in our brain’s reward systems.
Study Quote
All three reward anticipation conditions were found to be associated with increased brain activation in the reward system, with the highest activation in the monetary reward anticipation condition, followed by the punishment avoidance anticipation condition, and the lowest activation in ...
Show More
Conclusions
The study found a clear correlation between ADHD symptoms and activation in a key part of the brain's reward system:
“
For the NAcc, this means that the higher the scores on the inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity scales in the self-report questionnaire, the lower the BOLD response in the NAcc during reward anticipation.
Dopamine, a key chemical reward signal in our brain, may be responsible for many of the behaviors we associate with ADHD:
“
The observed reduced neuronal responses in the nucleus accumbens in subjects with more pronounced ADHD related behaviors could potentially be due to a diminished dopaminergic response.
This finding is consistent with other studies examining the reward system's role in ADHD.
Study Quote
In conclusion, our results from a non-clinical sample are in accordance with reported deficits in the reward system in ADHD patients: the higher the number and severity of ADHD related behaviors, the lower the neural responses in the dopaminergic driven reward anticipation task. Thus, o...
Show More