Abstract
This presentation gives an overview of the current understanding of the nosology, neuropsychology, and neurobiology of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition presenting with the main core symptom domains of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, but with vast heterogeneity in the expression of these symptoms, overlapping with other disorders, associated comorbidities, treatment response, neurocognitive abilities, and outcomes of adaptive functioning. Currently, there is no consensus reached regarding what kinds of dimensions capture ADHD best and the level they should be measured at, i.e. reported symptoms, cognitive tests, brain imaging, or other neurobiological markers. A classical cognitive profile of ADHD is characterized by deficits across all attention modalities, processing speed, executive function (mainly working memory and inhibition with emphasis on reward delay and interference control), verbal memory, reading skills, social cognition, and arithmetic abilities. Neurophysiological studies suggest that a reduced amplitude and longer latency of the inhibition-related P3 component of the event-related brain potential (ERP) could be a marker of ADHD. Broader-scale connective and network dysfunctions have been found to be central in ADHD pathophysiology, with pharmacotherapy as the most efficacious in normalizing functional connectivity. Patients with ADHD have consistent functional abnormalities in distinct domain-dissociated right hemispheric fronto-basal ganglia networks, including the inferior frontal cortex, supplementary motor area, and anterior cingulate cortex for inhibition and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, parietal, and cerebellar areas for attention.
Biography
Dejan is a child psychiatrist, specialist for neuropsychology, and research associate affiliated with the Clinic for neurology and psychiatry for children and youth, Belgrade, Serbia and the Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden. His main research interests are cross-cultural psychiatry, psychopharmacology, and pharmacoeconomics, with the main published works focused on psychometrics, cross-cultural scale validation, pediatric quality of life, epilepsy, anxiety and depression in children and adolescents. The main clinical expertise is diagnosing and treating neurodevelopmental disorders. Dejan is a co-leader of the International Child Mental Health - Study Group (ICMH-SG) and a co-founder of the Autism Spectrum Disorder International Consortium (ASDIC), two organizations aiming to bridge knowledge gaps in child and adolescent mental health research in undeveloped and developing countries.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dejan-Stevanovic-3