This review aims to establish the cognitive processing of patients with attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) across age. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies on children and adult populations were conducted, thus delineating deficits that could have been maintained and ameliorated across age. This allowed for the examination of the correlation between patterns of brain activation and the corresponding development of functional heterogeneity in ADHD. A systematic literature search of fMRI studies on ADHD was conducted using the PubMed and Scopus electronic databases based on PRISMA guidelines. References and citations were verified in Scopus database. The present study has identified 14 studies on children, 16 studies on adults, and one study on both populations of ADHD consisting of 1,371 participants. Functional heterogeneity is present in ADHD across age, which can manifest either as different brain activation patterns, intra-subject variability, or both. This is shown in the increased role of the frontal regions and the specialized network in adults with ADHD from inefficient non-specific activation in childhood. Functional heterogeneity may manifest when delayed maturation is insufficient to normalize frontal lobe functions.

本综述旨在建立跨年龄注意力缺陷多动障碍 (ADHD) 患者的认知过程。对儿童和成人人群进行了功能磁共振成像 (fMRI) 研究，从而描绘出可以在不同年龄阶段保持和改善的缺陷。这允许检查大脑激活模式与 ADHD 功能异质性的相应发展之间的相关性。使用基于 PRISMA 指南的 PubMed 和 Scopus 电子数据库对 ADHD 的 fMRI 研究进行了系统的文献检索。参考文献和引文在 Scopus 数据库中得到验证。本研究确定了 14 项针对儿童的研究，16 项针对成人的研究，以及一项针对 ADHD 两种人群的研究，共有 1,371 名参与者。不同年龄的 ADHD 存在功能异质性，这可以表现为不同的大脑激活模式、受试者内的变异性，或两者兼而有之。这表现在额叶区域和专门网络在患有 ADHD 的成年人中的作用越来越大，因为儿童时期的非特异性激活效率低下。当延迟成熟不足以使额叶功能正常化时，可能会出现功能异质性。