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The Interface of Genetics, Neuroimaging, and Neurochemistry in Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

, and . Raven Press, New York, Fourth edition, (1995)

Abstract

The application of new technological breakthroughs in basic sciences on problems of children and adolescents presents great challenges to neuroscientists. Despite increasing concerns of using children in research, new advances in family genetics and brain imaging have been applied to children and adolescents diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The need for enrolling young subjects in neuroscience research is not restricted to the study of childhood disorders. The importance of understanding the developmental origins of such disorders as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder is becoming clearer to researchers studying adult disorders. This chapter will review progress made in the investigation of ADHD over the past 5 years in three areas: genetics, neuroimaging, and neurochemistry. Our main emphasis is placed in the areas of genetics and neuroimaging because most progress has been done in these fields, in contrast to the lack of new findings in the neurochemistry of ADHD. Advances in genetics and brain imaging may have great impact on research in pharmacology, because they provide means to identify more homogeneous samples for drug trials and enable us to explore more directly drug effects on brain activity and neurotransmitter systems. Although it is a large topic to be covered in a short chapter, it is our hope that the interface of these three scientific fields would highlight the direction of research not only in child and adolescent psychiatry, but also in adult psychiatry. The term ADHD will refer to the disorder of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder as defined by DSM-III (2) or DSM-III-R (3). It is important to keep in mind that these definitions may identify overlapping, and possibly different, syndromes. DSM-III-R is more inclusive because it allows subjects with only two domains of dysfunction to fulfill ADHD criteria in contrast to the impairment in three domains (impulsivity, inattention, and hyperactivity) required in the DSM-III definition (53). For the most part, we will restrict our review to Attention-Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, as there is some evidence that Attention-Deficit Disorder without Hyperactivity might be a different disorder (9, 36, 37).

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