A smaller brain region responsible for control over behaviour, processing of emotion, and communication may explain why about one in two children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is likely to experience depression, anxiety, and explosive outbursts, according to a study on Wednesday.ADHD affects around one in 14 young people under the age of 18 and in around half of these cases it persists into adulthood.
Mood disorders such as depression, anxiety disorder, and verbal or physical outbursts due to an inability to regulate their emotions in children with ADHD were previously thought to be a result of problems with cognition and motivation.
But in the study, scientists from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, and the University of Cambridge showed that emotional dysregulation occurs independently of these, and is because of a brain region called pars orbitalis.