Default mode network (DMN) impairments in adults with ADHD and bipolar disorder: Connectivity and variability

PABLO BARTTFELD; AGUSTÍN PETRONI; HUGO URQUINA; MARIANO SIGMAN; MARCELO CETKOVICH; TERESA TORRALVA; FERNANDO TORRENTE; ALICIA LISCHINSKY; FACUNDO MANES; AGUSTÍN IBÁÑEZ

Berlin

Congreso; 3rd International Congress on ADHD –From Childhood to adult disease; 2011

World Federation ADHD

Objective Current psychiatric research highlights the comorbidity and shared symptomatology of adult Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Bipolar Disorder (BD), calling for further research. Electroencephalography (EEG) default mode network (DMN) appears as a good candidate to explore the difference and similitude between both disorders in terms of connectivity: the Castellanos and Sonuga-Barke hypothesis (CSBH) proposes that DMN variability and impairments would explain the neurocognitive profile of ADHD. Besides, the investigation of DMN in BD is scant. Method Here we used electroencephalography (Biosemi amplifier of 128 channels) to assess dynamic brain connectivity in ADHD (8 subjects) and BD (10 subjects) populations – as well as in a control group (15 subjects)-, focusing in the low frequency (delta) range, showed to strongly reflect the activity of the DMN. All groups were matched for gender, age, handedness, and years of education. Correlations between all pair wise combinations of EEG channels were computed for all subjects with the Synchronisation Likelihood (SL) and after that, measures of Graph Theory metrics were computed. Results ADHD and BD connectivity maps showed a reduction, broadly fronto-posterior, in the DMN connectivity, being the BD group the one showing higher decrements in connectivity. Interestingly, DMN intrasubject variability was higher (Increased SD of connections) in ADHD compared to controls and BD. Moreover, we reported significant correlations between connectivity measures and clinical/neuropsychological assessment in both ADHD and BD.