Study reveals link between ADHD and sleeping disorder

An international team of researchers have found that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is related to sleeping disorder through brain imaging analysis.

ADHD is seen in some children who are often accompanied by sleeping disorders. To find the link between ADHD and sleeping problems, the researchers led by Fudan University used large datasets to set up statistical models.

The team also carried out brain structure imaging research and found that ADHD symptoms and sleeping disorders have common neural correlates, including structural changes of the ventral attention system. They found that ADHD symptoms contributed to a sleeping disorder. The more severe the symptoms of early ADHD, the more sleeping problems will follow.

The research revealed the comorbidity mechanism of ADHD and sleep disorders, said Luo Qiang, one of the researchers, adding that they have also found genes and brain structures related to this.

Feng Jianfeng, president of Fudan University's Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-inspired Intelligence, said the study might help develop new therapeutics for early ADHD to reduce patients' ADHD symptoms and sleeping problems.

The research was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.