A collaborative research group led by Professor Takanori Yamagata of the Department of Pediatrics, Jichi Medical University, and Professor Ippeita Dan of the Department of Comprehensive Human Science and Engineering, Chuo University, used light-based functional brain imaging to detect symptoms of attentionlessness and hyperactivity (ADHD). We have succeeded in visualizing at the individual level.
Current ADHD testing methods include subjective ones that answer check items and ones that detect brain wave abnormalities seen in 35% of patients, but all of them are difficult to identify and are often overlooked. ..Therefore, there was a need to develop an objective and highly sensitive method for distinguishing ADHD.
In this experiment, 6 children with ADHD from 14 to 30 years old and 30 children with typical development were asked to play a behavioral suppression game suitable for measuring the symptoms of ADHD.During this 6-minute game, changes in brain activity were measured by a method called optical topography *.Optical topography is a method of measuring brain function without damaging the body by shining near infrared rays from above the head.As a result, there was a difference in brain activity in the right prefrontal cortex, which is thought to be involved in behavioral suppression.Increased activity in this area was seen in neurotypical children, but not in ADHD children.From this difference, we confirmed that more than 80% of children with ADHD can be identified.
In the future, we will improve this measurement system to make it easier to use and determine whether it can be used in actual diagnosis through large-scale clinical trials.
* Optical topography is a registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd.
