ADHD
Conditions
Keywords
ADHD, Neurofeedback, fMRI, attention tasks, motion
Brief summary
The goal of this interventional study is to learn the effects that stimulant medication prescribed to ADHD individuals has in their performance of attentive tasks, as measured by images and data collected through neuroimaging (fMRI) while also implementing new motion-correcting software. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. How do the use of stimulants affect brain activity and motion in fMRI research in ADHD studies? 2. Can neurofeedback, an attentive task using real-time brain activity, engage the same brain circuits as seen with stimulant medication in individuals with ADHD? Researchers will compare participant's brain activity from the completion of attentive tasks performed in the scanner while following their regular medication regimen and while abstaining to take medication. Researchers will also compare how the data collected using a more precise motion correction software differs to other previously reported data from ADHD studies who possibly employed more lenient measures of motion correction. Participants will: 1. Be asked to complete at least 4 fMRI sessions, two of which will include neurofeedback 2. Be asked to abstain from taking stimulant medication on the day of two of these fMRI visits 3. Complete attentive tasks while in the scanner that will activate target brain regions of interest
Interventions
COMBINATION_PRODUCTfMRI Neurofeedback attention task
Neurofeedback is an attentive task where participants are shown their real-time brain signals while in the scanner with the use of a representation, such as a rocket moving towards a portal. Participants are able to increase this brain signal by more purposefully engaging certain brain regions, and this is reflected in the representation that they see. Ultimately, this study is interested in whether neurofeedback can replicate the effects of stimulant medication in ADHD.
Sponsors
Boston Children's Hospital
Study design
Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
12 Years to 35 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Age 12 or older * Able to follow verbal and written instructions in native language * Pre-existing clinical ADHD diagnosis (with or without comorbid anxiety diagnoses) * Pre-existing medication regimen of methylphenidate or amphetamine salt derivatives with no changes in the last month
Exclusion criteria
* Known visual impairment preventing test administration * Contraindication of inability to participate in fMRI scanning (per MRI screening form) * Known, self-reported non-incidental structural brain abnormality * Autism Spectrum Disorder or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder * Non-verbal
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Neurofeedback mimicking the effects of stimulants | Through data collection and analysis, an average of 1 year | Compare whether neurofeedback can mimic the effects of stimulants by engaging similar attentive brain circuits and providing a normalized activation effect similar to that of stimulants (measured in units of neural activation, with intensity based on p-value of significance, and by a z-score obtained in real-time during the task). This data will be collected during the completion of the neurofeeback task while in the scanner. |
| Performance on Attentive Tasks | Through data collection and analysis, an average of 1 year | Performance on other attentive tasks (e.g., reaction time in seconds, accuracy of response), different from neurofeedback, will be observed while on stimulant medication, compared to performance on the same tasks while refraining from stimulant medication. |
| Precise motion correction as a better accountant of ADHD mechanisms | Through data collection and analysis, an average of 1 year | Will compare results from data collected using fMRI and a new software that more precisely corrects for motion artifacts in a slice-by-slice manner to results previously reported for ADHD studies using more lenient fMRI motion artifact measures. Some of these comparisons will include more or less brain activation of the same regions, more precise windows of activation, etc. |
Countries
United States
Contacts
Primary ContactAlexander Cohen, MD, PhD
Backup ContactCohen Lab
Outcome results
None listed