Structural Alterations in Cortical Thickness and Volume in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): An Exploratory Surface-Based Morphometric Study.

Overview

1. Research, Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dothan, USA
2. Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the significant clusters of structural alterations across cortical regions associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and explore their potential functional implications.

Methods: A cross-sectional, exploratory surface-based morphometric analysis of cortical thickness and volume in the left and right hemispheres was conducted using FreeSurfer (Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging) on a publicly available structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) dataset. The final analytic sample consisted of 34 observations, including 11 participants with ADHD and 23 participants without ADHD (controls). Participants spanned a range of ages, and group comparisons were performed between ADHD and control participants. Age was included as a continuous covariate in the statistical model to account for developmental variability. Surface-based morphometric data were analyzed with a minimum z-score threshold of 1.3, with cluster-wise correction (cluster-wise p-value (CWP) ≤ 0.05) applied to account for multiple comparisons. Clusters showing significant differences were mapped to anatomical regions, and their functional relevance was interpreted.

Results: Reduced cortical thickness was observed in the right superior frontal gyrus and increased in the left postcentral gyrus. Both hemispheres demonstrated multiple clusters showing significant (CWP ≤ 0.0002) increases or decreases in volume. Increased volume was observed in the right precentral, postcentral, lingual, and fusiform gyri, as well as the left postcentral gyrus, lateral occipital gyrus, inferior parietal cortex, and rostral middle frontal cortex. A decreased volume was observed in the right superior frontal and left supramarginal gyri. Bidirectional volume changes were also noted in the right lateral occipital gyrus and rostral middle frontal cortex.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that ADHD is associated with region-specific alterations in cortical thickness and volume, particularly within executive, motor, and sensory processing regions. Given the mixed-age ADHD cohort and exploratory design, these results should be interpreted as hypothesis-generating, warranting validation in larger, age-stratified cohorts.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Code

The paper links to its data, not to its authors' code: see the Data section.

Tracing map

A tracing map links a paper to the code its authors published: this paper has none, so it has no map.

Data

Datasets cited

• doi:10.18112/openneuro.ds003500.v, at OpenNeuro; found in the text, “Materials and methods”
• openneuro:ds003500, at OpenNeuro; found in the references

Versions

The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.

Version 1, 29 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 2 authors, 5 keywords, 20 references.

Cite

This paper

Kettman, A., & Murakami, M. (2026). Structural Alterations in Cortical Thickness and Volume in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): An Exploratory Surface-Based Morphometric Study. Cureus, 18(4), e106581. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.106581

Similar papers

The papers with a page that share the most with this one: the tools found in their code, their categories, datasets, cited references and authors, the rarest counting most.

[1] doi:10.1038/s41598-026-50791-w [code]

Hybrid Vi+ECNN framework for advanced ADHD diagnostic accuracy in medical imaging.

Journal: Scientific reports

In common: ADHD, structural MRI / diffusion, 4 references

[2] doi:10.1017/s003329172610405x [code]

Cortical morphometric inverse divergence in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder correlates with cell-type-specific, laminar-specific and developmental transcriptomic signatures.

Journal: Psychological medicine

In common: ADHD, structural MRI / diffusion, 3 references

[3] doi:10.1186/s40708-026-00312-2 [code]

Synergistic and redundant information dynamics exhibit dissociable alterations across schizophrenia and neurodevelopmental conditions.

Journal: Brain informatics

In common: ADHD, fMRI, 2 references

[4] doi:10.1093/braincomms/fcag351 [code]

Time-resolved aperiodic dynamics in event segmentation in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Journal: Brain communications

In common: ADHD, cognitive, 1 reference

[5] doi:10.1038/s41398-026-04114-2 [code]

Plasma Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP) shows age-dependent associations with externalizing psychopathology and atypical brain connectivity.

Journal: Translational psychiatry

In common: 2 references

[6] doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1004860 [code]

Brain aging patterns among nine neurological disorders: A case-control study.

Journal: PLoS medicine

In common: ADHD, structural MRI / diffusion, 1 reference

[7] doi:10.3390/brainsci16050480

Efficacy of Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation in Improving Working Memory in Children and Adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Systematic Review.

Journal: Brain sciences

In common: ADHD, cognitive, 1 reference

[8] doi:10.3390/genes17080849

Deciphering the Role of LNX2 as a Potential Contributor to Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

Journal: Genes

In common: ADHD, 1 reference

[9] doi:10.1007/s44192-026-00521-5 [code]

Associations between anterior hypothalamic subunits and ADHD and autistic traits revealed by deep learning MRI segmentation.

Journal: Discover mental health

In common: ADHD, structural MRI / diffusion, 1 reference

[10] doi:10.1038/s43856-026-01510-z [code]

Mapping genetic convergence across brain structure, mental health, and cardiometabolic disease.

Journal: Communications medicine

In common: ADHD, 1 reference

Contribute

The authors of this paper can claim it, correct its record and validate its tracing map, and the maintainers of its code (its owner, or a public member of its organization) correct what it says of their repository; anyone signed in can ask for its removal. Every request goes to OSCR's own machine, which answers it; your account page follows them.

Request its removal

To ask OSCR to remove this record, the copies of its authors' scripts or its tracing map, use the removal request page: signed in, you say who you are, what to remove and why, then review and confirm the request. Published rules decide every request (how).

Discussion: questions and error reports about this paper and its code, from signed-in readers and its authors. It opens with sign-in.

Reproductions: reports from readers who ran the authors' code: what they reproduced, with which environment, commit and data. It opens with sign-in.

Activity: what happens around this paper: new versions of its record, its map's validation, discussions and reproductions. It opens with sign-in.