Brain imaging tests reveals deficits among kids with ADHD and bipolar disorder

By Staff Writer

A team of researchers from the University of Chicago has conducted the first-known study that used brain imaging to examine the effects of emotion on working memory function in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD).

Although kids who have these developmental issues have similar behavioral characteristics, such as impulsivity, irritability and attention problems, researchers wanted to study the brain activity associated with human emotion and memory. The study involved 23 kids with PBD, 14 with ADHD and 19 healthy controls - all of whom were between 10 and 18 years old.

The memory task asked children to viewing photos of faces with different emotions, such as angry, happy or neutral expressions. While children with both disorders showed dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex, the ADHD participants had the most severe irregularities in this region, which controls behavior and cognitive processes such as memory, attention and language.

The group of kids who had PBD experienced more deficit in regions of the brain that are involved in emotion-processing and regulation. The findings appear in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Children who suffer from emotional or developmental disorders may benefit from wilderness therapy, which is designed to provide help for troubled teens.