Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: advances in cognitive, neurobiological, and genetic research

Conceptual and technological advances in cognitive neuroscience and molecular genetics have the potential to identify the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders. This article reviews the application of these technologies to the scientific study of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It begins with a summary of shifts in conceptualization and scientific study of this common condition. This is followed by a critical review of findings from recent cognitive, neuroimaging, and genetic studies. The available data do not yet permit an integration across these different levels of enquiry, but implicate problems in response inhibition, dysfunction of frontostriatal networks, and genetic factors in the pathogenesis of this complex behavioral phenotype. The review closes with suggestions for future interdisciplinary research.