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Correlation between brain function and ADHD symptom changes in children with ADHD following a few-foods diet: an open-label intervention trial
Research on how nutrition affects children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has revealed that 60% of kids with ADHD have a substantial reduction in symptoms while following a few-foods diet (FFD). The mechanism underlying this impact is yet unknown, though. In an open-label dietary intervention experiment, Hontelez et al. (2021) examined whether behavioral advantages following an FFD are linked to changes in brain activity during inhibitory control in 79 ADHD boys aged 8–10 years. The ADHD Rating Scale was filled out by parents of individuals with ADHD both before (t1) and after the FFD intervention (t2). Initial subject-level analyses were carried out without taking into account the ADHD Rating Scale scores, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans were taken during a stop-signal task at both periods. Fifty children, or sixty-three percent of the participants, responded to diet, demonstrating a minimum forty percent decrease in symptoms of ADHD. 53 of the 79 kids had high-quality fMRI images that might be used for additional research. Region-of-interest analyses found no direct association between brain activation in areas related to the stop-signal task and changes in ADHD symptoms. However, whole-brain analysis revealed a correlation between reduced ADHD symptoms and increased activation in the precuneus, particularly during StopSuccess versus Go trials and StopSuccess versus StopFail trials. These findings suggest that changes in brain activation, particularly in the precuneus, may explain the effectiveness of a few-foods diet in alleviating ADHD symptoms in children. [NPID: ADHD, few-foods diet, brain function, fMRI, neurocognitive mechanism, behavioral change, precuneus activation, stop-signal task]
Year: 2021
