Difficulties in sustaining attention and controlling impulses are common traits in individuals with disorders such as attention deficit with or without hyperactivity. These challenges often reflect impairments in the brain mechanisms that enable focus on a task while ignoring distractions. New research reveals that these mechanisms may be influenced by genetic factors, providing insight into the origins of these disorders.<\/p>\n
Scientists focused on a specific brain activity called midline frontal theta activity. This activity, observable through electrodes placed on the scalp, manifests as brain waves oscillating between 4 and 8 times per second. It plays a key role in coordinating cognitive control processes, such as the ability to adjust behavior according to task demands. In individuals with attention disorders, this theta activity often shows irregularities, particularly increased variability in the timing of these waves from one trial to another.<\/p>\n
The study examined whether the genetic risk associated with these disorders could predict variations in this brain activity. To do this, researchers used a score calculated from each participant’s DNA, reflecting their genetic predisposition to develop symptoms similar to those observed in attention deficit. The results indicate that this genetic score accounts for some of the variability in the regularity of theta waves, suggesting that genes directly influence the brain’s ability to synchronize its control signals.<\/p>\n
This discovery is reinforced by the stability of the measures used. Indeed, the regularity of theta waves proved to be highly reliable in repeated tests, confirming that this brain activity is a robust and consistent indicator. However, the genetic risk linked to other developmental disorders, such as autism, does not appear to have the same impact on this brain activity.<\/p>\n
These findings shed new light on the links between genetics and brain function. They suggest that the cognitive control difficulties observed in certain disorders may be partly explained by genetic variations affecting the temporal coordination of brain signals. This approach paves the way for a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms and could, in the long term, contribute to more targeted intervention strategies.<\/p>\n
DOI:<\/strong> https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41398-026-03938-2<\/a><\/p>\n Title:<\/strong> ADHD polygenic risk predicts neural signatures of cognitive control: Evidence from midfrontal theta dynamics<\/p>\n Journal:<\/strong> Translational Psychiatry<\/p>\n Publisher:<\/strong> Springer Science and Business Media LLC<\/p>\n Authors:<\/strong> \u00dcmit Aydin; Ziye Wang; M\u00e1t\u00e9 Gyurkovics; Amy Tong; Grace Cullen; Sumayyah Ahmed; Jason Palmer; Gr\u00e1inne McLoughlin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Does Genetic Risk for Attention Disorders Influence Brain Coordination? Difficulties in sustaining attention and controlling impulses are common traits in individuals with disorders such as attention deficit with or without hyperactivity. These challenges often reflect impairments in the brain mechanisms that enable focus on a task while ignoring distractions. New research reveals that these mechanisms… Continue reading Does Genetic Risk for Attention Disorders Influence Brain Coordination?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-humanitarian","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychiatryfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychiatryfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychiatryfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychiatryfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychiatryfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/psychiatryfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37,"href":"https:\/\/psychiatryfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions\/37"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychiatryfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychiatryfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychiatryfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}