Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Developmental Coordination Disorder: a discussion of the neural underpinnings

Abstract

© 2015, Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo. All rights reserved. Objective. To discuss the neural underpinnings of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) in children. Although the motor problems occur in 30-50% of children with ADHD, its causes are still unclear. Method. The literature search was performed in PubMed database between the years 2000 and 2015, using the keywords “ADHD”, “DCD”, “comorbidity”, “motor skills”, “attention”, “executive functioning” “neural basis” and their combinations. The selection of 72 articles considered the most relevant papers according to the scope of the proposed theme, unsystematically. Results. The involvement of the basal ganglia and the prefrontal cortex verified in individuals with ADHD may reflect motor planning difficulties and organization of movements before it begins, while parietal changes in children with DCD may be related not only to the preparation, but mainly the motor act execution. Conclusions. The overlap between ADHD and DCD may involve a common neurobiological substrate for both disorders. However, it is not clear yet which motor and attentional difficulties are intrinsic to each disorder due to failure to identify DCD in many samples with ADHD and vice versa.