Shared and distinct alterations in brain morphology in children with ADHD and obesity: Reduced cortical surface area in ADHD and thickness in overweight/obesity

Objective: To investigate shared versus distinct differences in brain structure among children with ADHD and obesity, we examined the morphology of regions implicated in cognitive control and reward function in a single cross-sectional cohort of children with and without ADHD and overweight/obesity (OV/OB).

Method: Participants included 471 children ages 8-12 years with ADHD (n = 244; 58 OV/OB) and neurotypical (NT) controls (n = 227; 81 OV/OB) classified as healthy-weight (HW; BMI %ile 5th to <85th) vs. having OV/OB (BMI %ile≥85th). Structural MRI was performed to obtain measures of cortical and subcortical morphology and compared across ADHD × BMI groups.

Results: Surface area was generally lower in ADHD vs. NT including in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), medial (m)PFC, and primary motor (M1) cortex. In contrast, cortical thickness was generally lower in OV/OB vs. HW for ACC, dlPFC, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), mPFC, and supplementary motor cortex (SMC). Furthermore, ADHD × OV/OB interactions were observed for the ACC and OFC, with the lowest ACC volume in the ADHD + OV/OB group and the highest OFC surface area in the NT + OV/OB group. Subcortical volumes did not differ between groups.

Conclusions: Our findings reveal distinct alterations in cortical morphology in association with ADHD and overweight, with cortical surface area reduced in ADHD vs. thickness reduced in OV/OB. Additionally, the findings provide evidence of combined effects of ADHD × OV/OB in brain regions integral to cognition and motivation. Our results support further investigation of causes and correlates of shared and distinct ADHD- and OV/OB-associated differences in developing frontocingulate morphology.