Why Risk Matters: Unlocking ADHD Biomarkers

You know how sometimes it's hard to tell who has ADHD and who doesn't just by looking at their brain? That's because the brain measures of kids with ADHD and those without can overlap a lot. But what if we could make these differences stand out more? That's where a risk-informed design comes in. Researchers in Brazil looked at over 2, 500 kids aged 6 to 14 from a group at high risk for mental health issues. They found that kids with ADHD had higher genetic scores for ADHD, smaller brain areas linked to attention, and poorer skills in planning and focusing. When they split the kids without ADHD into high and low-risk groups, the differences between them and the kids with ADHD became even clearer.This risk-based design helped show that kids at low risk for ADHD had very different brain measures from those with ADHD and those at high risk. Even when they considered how many ADHD symptoms the kids had, this risk-based design still helped highlight the differences. This study shows that considering risk can help us find better signs (biomarkers) for ADHD. It could also help us find signs for other mental disorders.