Steffen Bollmann1,
2, Carmen Ghisleni1, 2, Simon S. Poil1,
2, Peter Klaver1, 3, Lars Michels1,
4, Richard Anthony Edward Edden5, Ernst Martin1,
2, Dominique Eich-Hchli6, Juliane Ball7, Daniel
Brandeis7, 8, Ruth L. O'Gorman1, 2
1Center
for MR-Research, University Children's Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland; 2Center
for Integrative Human Physiology (ZIHP), University of Zurich, Zurich,
Switzerland; 3Institute of Psychology, University of Zurich,
Zurich, Switzerland; 4Institute of Neuroradiology, University
Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; 5Department of Radiology
and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United
States; 6Psychiatric University Hospital, University of Zurich,
Zurich, Switzerland; 7Department of Child & Adolescent
Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; 8Central
Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim/ Heidelberg
University, Mannheim, Germany
This study examines differences in basal ganglia GABA levels between adults with ADHD and healthy participants, and evaluates the association between GABA levels and ADHD symptom scores. GABA-edited MR spectra were acquired with MEGA-PRESS, and symptom scores were evaluated with the Wender Utah Rating scale and Conners symptom inventories. GABA/Cr levels in the basal ganglia were lower in ADHD patients relative to controls, and GABA levels correlated negatively with WURS hyperactivity scores and Conners hyperactive, impulsive, and inattentive scores, indicating that patients with ADHD have reduced inhibitory neurotransmitter levels in the left basal ganglia which are related to behavioural dysfunction.