Kinder und Jugendliche mit ADHS scheinen frühe und stabile Störungen in einem wichtigen Gehirnsystem zu zeigen, das an der emotionalen und kognitiven Verarbeitung beteiligt ist. Diejenigen mit schwereren ADHS-Symptomen hatten tendenziell eine geringere Netzwerkdichte und eine geringere Routing-Effizienz in ihren Verbindungen zum limbischen System.

I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2451902225003003

From the linked article:

**Children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) appear to show early and stable disruptions in a key brain system involved in emotional and cognitive processing**, according to new research published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. The findings suggest that ADHD involves differences in how emotional and cognitive brain circuits are physically wired during development. Although these differences are subtle, they could play a role in shaping the severity of symptoms across childhood and adolescence.

The limbic system helps regulate emotion and integrates emotional signals with cognitive processes. It is also implicated in behavioral regulation, impulse control, and mood—all areas where people with ADHD often experience difficulties. Emotional dysregulation is especially common in ADHD and can affect quality of life. Given the limbic system’s role in emotion and behavior, the researchers aimed to better understand how its white matter—bundles of nerve fibers that connect brain regions—develops in youth with ADHD.

Interestingly, the overall number and efficiency of connections within the limbic system did not significantly differ between the ADHD and control groups when considered as a whole. However, when the researchers looked at symptom severity within the ADHD group, a clearer picture emerged. **Children and adolescents with more severe ADHD symptoms tended to have lower network density and reduced routing efficiency in their limbic system connections**.