Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy and electroencephalographic activity in attention deficit disorder

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) could be considered a clinically heterogeneous condition that involves three sets of symptoms: inattention, impulsive behaviors, hyperactivity or a combination of them. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has demonstrated size changes at cerebellum and basal ganglia of ADD in comparison with healthy child. The purpose of our work was to evaluate the activity of the brain in ADD child using Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (1HMRS) and Electroencephalographic (EEG) activity. EEG studies were done in a Digital PLEEG. MRI/ 1HMRS data was acquired on a 1.5 Tesla system (Magnetom Vision, Siemens Medical Systems). More than 50% of ADD child (classified as innatent) showed slow type alterations in EEG. 1HMRS study demonstrated that the main difference between the two study groups was the variation in the Cho/Cre ratio. The observed average for this ratio is significantly lower in ADD when compared with Healthy References Subjects (HR). These results suggest that a two techniques combination could be useful for the evaluation and future biochemical therapeutic trials in ADD.