The following is excerpted from an online article posted by StudyFinds
Researchers in China found that children with ADHD appear to cluster into two neurologically distinct subgroups, and the brain patterns separating them run in opposite directions.
Children in subtype 1, the group with higher gray matter, showed symptoms most closely linked to inattentiveness. The brain changes clustered in two areas: the frontal lobes and the cerebellum. Frontal lobes help regulate attention and impulse control. The cerebellum, which most people associate with balance and coordination, has increasingly been recognized as a key player in attention processing. As symptom severity increased within this group, gray matter gains spread further into the cerebellum on top of changes already present in the frontal, parietal, and temporal regions.
Subtype 2 showed the opposite overall pattern. Gray matter losses were concentrated in the cerebellum, hippocampus, and other regions tied to memory, motivation, and emotional regulation. Most people know the hippocampus as a memory structure, but it also helps regulate motivation and emotion, two areas frequently disrupted in ADHD. In the earliest severity stage, children in this subtype showed no detectable brain differences from neurotypical peers. It was only in the moderate and severe stages that gray matter losses became apparent across the cerebellum, frontal regions, and hippocampus. Symptoms in this subtype covered the full ADHD picture, including inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
Perhaps the most consequential question raised by this research is whether the two subgroups might respond differently to treatment. Children in subtype 1, whose brain changes center on frontal and cerebellar regions tied to attention, might potentially benefit from cognitive training programs targeting attention networks. Children in subtype 2, who show more widespread brain changes and a broader symptom burden, might require more intensive approaches combining medication and behavioral therapy.
Source: StudyFinds
https://studyfinds.com/two-adhd-subtypes-and-patterns-look-nothing-alike/