Geneticists at Aarhus University in Denmark have discovered 27 genomic variants that can cause attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The authors shared the results of their work in a published article. magazine Nature Genetics.
The scientists identified twice as many ADHD risk variants as previous studies had found.
The authors examined more than six million genetic variants in 38,000 people with ADHD and 186,000 without. As it turned out, the genes involved in the emergence of ADHD have a particularly high level of expression in a wide variety of brain tissues and in the early stages of brain development.
“This highlights that ADHD should be viewed as a developmental disorder of the brain. This is influenced by genes that have a major impact on the early development of the brain. Additionally, the genes we found affect dopamine production, which explains why people with ADHD have an imbalance of dopamine in their brains.” stressed the researchers.
The authors also analyzed data from cognitive tests of 5,000 people. They found that the presence of genes in DNA that increase the risk of developing ADHD was associated with decreased reading and math skills, reduced attention and short-term memory.