Compare and contrast the brain anomalies that occur in ASD and ADHD.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Autism: 1. anomalies found in the brain stem, cerebellum, and temporal lobes. 2. Abnormal brain sequencing occurs where there is dramatic growth during the first year - overgrowth is focused more in frontal and temporal areas that are important for social, emotional, and language functions. 3. Underactivation of these same areas occurs in adulthood. 4. Adult patients show increased cortical volume and thickness and more gray matter volume in the prefrontal and temporal areas, with reductions in other areas of the brain. 5. Reductions in white matter and connectivity, particularly in the corpus callosum and other long-distance connections - most likely in milder cases of ASD or earlier-maturing parts of the cortex. 6. Hyperconnectivity also exists in both short- and long-distance communications - most likely in severe cases of ASD or later-maturing parts of the cortex.
ADHD: 1. Reductions in overall brain volume and in five main areas involved in emotion, motivation, and reward processing. These are the caudate nucleus, putamen, nucleus accumbens, amygdala (most affected), and hippocampus. 2. Reductions are higher among children but level off in adults. 3. Reductions in white matter integrity in the connections between hemispheres and in anterior-posterior pathways - similar to ASD. 3. Reduced connectivity leads to segregated activity occurring in localized clusters rather than being integrated across larger areas of the brain. 4. Overall reductions in volume also observed in the prefrontal and parieto-temporal areas and in the cerebellum. 5. Reduced cortical thickness also occurs.