Research
Comparison of spatial working memory in children with prenatal alcohol exposure and those diagnosed with ADHD; A functional magnetic resonance imaging study
1 Department of Physiology, University of Manitoba, 432 Basic Medical Sciences Bldg, 745 Bannatyne Ave, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9, Canada
2 Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, P404 Duff Roblin Bldg, 190 Dysart Rd, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada
3 National Research Council of Canada, Institute for Biodiagnostics, 435 Ellice Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3B 1Y6, Canada
4 Department of Psychology, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Canada
5 Division of Rehabilitation Psychology, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
6 Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, University of Manitoba, 336 Basic Medical Sciences Bldg, 745 Bannatyne Ave, Winnipeg, MB R3E OJ9, Canada
7 Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, CE-203 Children’s Hospital, Health Sciences Centre, 840 Sherbrook St, Winnipeg, MB R3A 1S1, Canada
Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders 2012, 4:12 doi:10.1186/1866-1955-4-12
Published: 18 May 2012Abstract
Background
Alcohol related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND) falls under the umbrella of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), but individuals do not demonstrate the facial characteristics associated with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), making diagnosis difficult. While attentional problems in ARND are similar to those found in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the underlying impairment in attention pathways may be different.
Methods
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of a working memory (1-back) task of 63 children, 10 to 14 years old, diagnosed with ARND and ADHD, as well as typically developing (TD) controls, was conducted at 3 T. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data were also acquired.
Results
Activations were observed in posterior parietal and occipital regions in the TD group and in dorsolateral prefrontal and posterior parietal regions in the ARND group, whereas the ADHD group activated only dorsolateral prefrontal regions, during the working memory component of the task (1-back minus 0-back contrast). The increases in frontal and parietal activity were significantly greater in the ARND group compared to the other groups. This increased activity was associated with reduced accuracy and increased response time variability, suggesting that ARND subjects exert greater effort to manage short-term memory load. Significantly greater intra-subject variability, demonstrated by fMRI region-of-interest analysis, in the ADHD and ARND groups compared to the TD group suggests that moment-to-moment lapses in attention contributed to their poorer task performance. Differences in functional activity in ARND subjects with and without a diagnosis of ADHD resulted primarily from reduced activation by the ARND/ADHD + group during the 0-back task. In contrast, children with ADHD alone clearly showed reduced activations during the 1-back task. DTI analysis revealed that the TD group had significantly higher total tract volume and number of fibers than the ARND group. These measures were negatively correlated with errors on the 1-back task, suggesting a link between white matter integrity and task performance.
Conclusions
fMRI activations suggest that the similar behavior of children with ARND and ADHD on a spatial working memory task is the result of different cognitive events. The nature of ADHD in children with ARND appears to differ from that of children with ADHD alone.
