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Abstract Most attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) research has compared cases with unaffected controls. This has led to many associations, but uncertainties about their specificity to ADHD in contrast with other disorders. We present a selective review of research, comparing ADHD with other disorders in neuropsychological, neurobiological and genetic correlates. So far, a specific pathophysiological pathway has not been identified. ADHD is probably not specifically associated with executive function deficits. It is possible, but not yet established, that ADHD symptoms may be more specifically associated with motivational abnormalities, motor organization and time perception. Recent findings indicating common genetic liabilities of ADHD and other conditions raise questions about diagnostic boundaries. In future research, the delineation of the pathophysiological mechanisms of ADHD needs to match cognitive, imaging and genetic techniques to the challenge of defining more homogenous clinical groups; multi‐site collaborative projects are needed.

AbstractPrevious research in children has shown that higher cardiovascular fitness is related to better executive functioning. However, the available literature is hampered by methodological limitations. The present study investigates the relationship between cardiovascular fitness and executive functioning in a large sample of healthy children (N = 814). Cardiovascular fitness was assessed with estimated VO2Max from 20 m Shuttle Run Test performance. Executive functioning was assessed using a set of computerized neurocognitive tasks aimed at executive functions (working memory, motor inhibition, interference control) and lower‐level neurocognitive functions (information processing and attention). Dependent measures derived from the neurocognitive tests were subjected to principal component analysis. Mixed model analyses tested the relation between cardiovascular fitness and neurocognitive functioning components. Results showed that children with higher cardiovascular fitness performed better on the neurocognitive function components Information Processing and Control, Visuospatial Working Memory and Attention Efficiency. The following measures contained in these components contributed to the observed relations: information processing measures, visuospatial working memory, and speed of alerting attention. No relationship was found between cardiovascular fitness and the other components: Verbal Working Memory, Attention Accuracy, and Interference Control. The present study suggests that there is a relationship between cardiovascular fitness and a specific set of executive functions and lower level neurocognitive functions. These findings highlight the importance of cardiovascular fitness for the overall health of school‐aged children.

The results leading to this publication have received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 777394 for the project AIMS-2-TRIALS. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA and AUTISM SPEAKS, Autistica, SFARI. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results. Any views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the funders.

Common risk factors for psychiatric and other brain disorders are likely to converge on biological pathways influencing the development and maintenance of brain structure and function across life. Using structural MRI data from 45,615 individuals aged 3–96 years, we demonstrate distinct patterns of apparent brain aging in several brain disorders and reveal genetic pleiotropy between apparent brain aging in healthy individuals and common brain disorders. ; The author list between I.A. and M.Z. is in alphabetic order. The authors were funded by the Research Council of Norway (276082 LifespanHealth (T.K.), 213837 (O.A.A), 223273 NORMENT (O.A.A.), 204966 (L.T.W.), 229129 (O.A.A.), 249795 (L.T.W.), 273345 (L.T.W.) and 283798 SYNSCHIZ (O.A.A.)), the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority (2013-123 (O.A.A.), 2014-097 (L.T.W.), 2015-073 (L.T.W.) and 2016083 (L.T.W.)), Stiftelsen Kristian Gerhard Jebsen (SKGJ-MED-008), the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (ERC Starting Grant, Grant agreement No. 802998 BRAINMINT (L.T.W.)), NVIDIA Corporation GPU Grant (T.K.), and the European Commission 7th Framework Programme (602450, IMAGEMEND (A.M.-L.)). ; acceptedVersion