Neuroimaging and psychopharmacology

This review presents the most recent research concerning neuroimaging in developmental disabilities. Changes in structure and activation have been found in children with ADHD and learning disabilities, following intervention. For the children with learning disabilities changes in activation have been found following intensive behavioral and academic intervention. Structural and activation differences in the auditory processing regions of the brain were found prior to academic intervention, with activation differences found for those children responding to the reading programs. Children with ADHD have been found to show differences in brain structures with few studies evaluating the differences in activation following medication. Emerging evidence indicates differences in the frontal regions of the brain for children who respond successfully to medication. Finally, a discussion of the variables that can impact the results in neuroimaging studies is presented. Further study is needed in this area, and additional variables of concern are also discussed.