Increased integration between default mode and task-relevant networks in children with ADHD is associated with impaired response control
Kelly A. Duffy, Keri Shiels Rosch, Mary Beth Nebel, Karen E. Seymour, Martin A. Lindquist, James J. Pekar et al. · 2021 · 44 citationsRead the paper
Default mode network (DMN) dysfunction is theorized to play a role in attention lapses and task errors in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In ADHD, the DMN is hyperconnected to task-relevant networks, and both increased functional connectivity and reduced activation are related to poor task performance. The current study extends existing literature by considering interactions between the DMN and task-relevant networks from a brain network perspective and by assessing how these interactions relate to response control. We characterized both static and time-varying functional brain network organization during the resting state in 43 children with ADHD and 43 age-matched typically developing (TD) children. We then related aspects of network integration to go/no-go performance. We calculated participation coefficient (PC), a measure of a region's inter-network connections, for regions of the DMN, canonical cognitive control networks (fronto-parietal, salience/cingulo-opercular), and motor-related networks (somatomotor, subcortical). Mean PC was higher in children with ADHD as compared to TD children, indicating greater integration across networks. Further, higher and less variable PC was related to greater commission error rate in children with ADHD. Together, these results inform our understanding of the role of the DMN and its interactions with task-relevant networks in response control deficits in ADHD.
What the full text shows
Shown in the lab- Children with ADHD showed higher mean participation coefficient (PC) compared to TD children, indicating greater inter-network integration. (Resting-state fMRI, whole-network level)
- Increased integration specifically between the DMN and the fronto-parietal (FP) cognitive control network was found in children with ADHD. (Static connectivity analysis)
- Higher integration between the DMN and the salience (SAL) and somatomotor (SM) networks correlated with increased commission error rates in children with ADHD. (Static connectivity analysis)
- Reduced variability of integration (lower CVPC) between the DMN and task-relevant networks correlated with increased commission error rates in children with ADHD. (Time-varying connectivity analysis)
- Children with ADHD exhibited poorer response inhibition and increased response variability on Go trials compared to TD children. — ComErr: t(82.1)=2.17, p=.033; tau: t(82.1)=2.19, p=.033 (Go/No-Go (GNG) task)
- Children with ADHD showed increased within-network coherence (WD) on a whole-network level compared to TD children. (Exploratory static analysis)
- Setup
- 43 children with ADHD and 43 age-matched typically developing (TD) children (aged 8-12 years).
- How
- The researchers used resting-state fMRI to calculate static and time-varying functional connectivity (via Dynamic Conditional Correlation) and applied graph theory to measure the participation coefficient (PC) and within-module degree (WD). These neural metrics were then correlated with behavioral performance from a Go/No-Go task.
- Limitations
- High exclusion rate due to head motion (97 ADHD and 73 TD children excluded). · Small final sample size (n=86 total) may limit generalizability. · Motion-matched sub-sample analysis showed inconsistent group differences, suggesting sensitivity to sample representation.
Summarized by Gemma 4 from the open-access full text · 13 Oct 2026. Read it