Intergenerational transmission of fronto-parietal dysfunction during forethought in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A pilot study

• Familial patterns of forethought, a prospective function of working memory, were explored in children ADHD and their parents.
• Cerebral activation during fMRI was compared in ADHD parent–child dyads vs. control parent–child dyads.
• Reduced activations in ADHD dyads were found in inferior frontal gyrus, right superior parietal lobule and left inferior parietal lobule, suggesting that fronto-parietal abnormalities characterize ADHD families.

There are only a few published reports of neural abnormalities within the families of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to compare cerebral activation of ADHD and control biological parent–child dyads during forethought, a prospective function of working memory. Reduced activations in ADHD dyads were found in the inferior frontal gyrus, right superior parietal lobule and left inferior parietal lobule. This suggests that fronto-parietal abnormalities are shared within ADHD families.