Högskolan i Skövde

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders, affecting around 7% of the worldwide population in their everyday life. It has been suggested that individuals with ADHD differ in gray matter volume from typically developing controls. However, findings on in which brain areas these differences are located, as well as how gray matter volume is affected by stimulant medication, remain inconclusive. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to investigate any potential differences in gray matter volume in medication-naïve individuals with ADHD compared to controls, focusing on studies using voxel-based morphometry applied to MRI-imaging data A keyword search in the databases Web of Science, Scopus and Medline EBSCO resulted in 349 studies, of which seven met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The results included a total of 169 participants diagnosed with ADHD and 148 typically developing controls. Findings suggested decreased cerebellar gray matter volume, potential gender-wise volume differences in the anterior cingulate cortex, and a decrease in caudate gray matter volume, specifically in adults with ADHD. Some limitations include small sample sizes, possible effects of age on gray matter volume, and the overall heterogeneous nature of the disorder. The present review agrees that individuals with ADHD exhibit differences in gray matter volume, but also highlights the importance of expanding research on medication-naïve subjects, to be able to draw more robust scientific conclusions about the neural correlates of ADHD in the future.