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ADHD Improvement After Few-Foods Diet Correlates With Precuneus Activation
Behavior improvements in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) following a few-foods diet were reflected in their brain activity, according to a study published in Scientific Reports.
“[T]he decrease in ADHD symptoms after following a few-foods diet was significantly correlated with an increase in inhibition-related activation of the precuneus during a stop-signal task,” researchers wrote, “pointing at an underlying neurocognitive mechanism.”
The open-label nutritional intervention study included 79 boys between ages 8 and 10 with ADHD. Before and after the few-foods diet, a short-term nutritional intervention that tests whether food is a trigger for ADHD symptoms, parents completed the ADHD Rating Scale. To assess whether behavior changes associated with the few-foods diet were associated with changes in brain function during inhibitory control, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans were taken during a stop-signal task both before and after the dietary intervention.
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Some 63% of children showed at least a 40% decrease in ADHD symptoms after the few-foods diet, according to the study. ADHD Rating Scale scores decreased an average 73%.
Among 53 children with fMRI scans of sufficient quality for analysis, activation of brain regions involved in the stop-signal task was not linked with change in ADHD symptoms, the study found. However, whole-brain analysis showed an association between ADHD symptom improvements and increased precuneus activation.
“Future research should not only focus on further investigating the role of the precuneus in food-induced ADHD, but also on the underlying biological mechanism and the impact of the gut-brain axis, which is highly modifiable by diet,” researchers advised. “Our study results are clinically relevant for children with ADHD and for the scientific community, providing new leads towards improved understanding of the impact of nutrition on ADHD.”
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