Skip to Content
800-533-8762
  • Careers
  • Newsroom
  • Health Care Professionals
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
UPMC
  • Find a Doctor
  • Services
    • Frequently Searched Services
    • Frequently Searched Services
      Allergy & Immunology Behavioral & Mental Health Cancer Ear, Nose & Throat Endocrinology Gastroenterology Heart & Vascular Imaging Neurosciences Orthopaedics
      Physical Rehabilitation Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Primary Care Senior Services Sports Medicine Telemedicine Transplant Surgery Walk-In Care Weight Management Women’s Health
      See all Services
    • Services by Region
    • Find a UPMC health care facility close to you quickly by browsing by region.
      UPMC in Western Pa. Western Pa. and New York
      UPMC in Central Pa. Central Pa.
      UPMC in North Central Pa. North Central Pa.
      UPMC in Western Md. Maryland & West Virginia
    • See All Services
  • Locations
    • Locations by Type
    • Locations by Type
      UPMC hospitals
      Hospitals
      Physical Therapy
      Physical Therapy
      Urgent care
      Walk-In Care
      UPMC Outpatient Centers
      Outpatient Centers
      UPMC Imaging Services
      Imaging
      Community Health Centers
      Community Health Centers
      See All Locations
    • Locations by Region
    • Locations by Region
      UPMC in Southwest Pa. Southwest Pa.
      UPMC in North Central Pa. North Central Pa.
      UPMC in Northwest Pa and Ny. Northwest Pa. & Western N.Y.
      UPMC in West Central Pa. West Central Pa.
      UPMC in Central Pa. Central Pa.
      UPMC in Western Md. Maryland & West Virginia
    • See All Locations
  • Patients & Visitors
    • Patient & Visitor Resources
    • Patient & Visitor Resources
      Patients and Visitors Resources Pay a Bill Classes & Events Medical Records Health Library Patient Information
      Patient Portals Privacy Information Shared Decision Making Traveling Patients Visitor Information
      Man uses mobile phone
      Pay a Bill
      Nurse reviews medical chart
      Request Medical Records
  • Patient Portals
  • Find Covid-19 updates
  • Schedule an appointment
  • Request medical records
  • Pay a bill
  • Learn about financial assistance
  • Find classes & events
  • Send a patient an eCard
  • Make a donation
  • Volunteer
  • Read HealthBeat blog
  • Explore UPMC Careers
Skip to Content
UPMC
  • Patient Portals
  • For Patients & Visitors
    • Find a Doctor
    • Locations
    • Patient & Visitor Resources
    • Pay a Bill
    • Services
    • More
      • Medical Records
      • Financial Assistance
      • Classes & Events
      • HealthBeat Blog
      • Health Library
  • About UPMC
    • Why UPMC
    • Facts & Stats
    • Supply Chain Management
    • Community Commitment
    • More
      • Financials
      • Support UPMC
      • UPMC Apps
      • UPMC Enterprises
      • UPMC International
  • For Health Care Professionals
    • Physician Information
    • Resources
    • Education & Training
    • Departments
    • Credentialing
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • Newsroom
  • UPMC >
  • Media Relations >
  • News Releases >
  • 120722 Genetic Vulnerability to ADHD Signals Risk
Media Relations
News Releases
Central Pa. News
North Central Pa. News
Contact Us
Experts
Community-Focused News
Media Kits
Media RSS
Media Relations
News Releases
Central Pa. News
North Central Pa. News
Contact Us
Experts
Community-Focused News
Media Kits
Media RSS

Chat Keywords List

  • cancel or exit: Stops your conversation
  • start over: Restarts your current scenario
  • help: Shows what this bot can do
  • terms: Shows terms of use and privacy statement
  • feedback: Give us feedback
Continue
Chat with UPMC
RESTART
MENU
CLOSE

Genetic Vulnerability to ADHD Signals Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease in Old Age

For Journalists

Anastasia (Ana) Gorelova
Senior Manager, Science Writing
412-647-9966
gorelovaa@upmc.edu

Sheila Davis
Manager
412-313-6070
davissn2@upmc.edu

Want to Make an Appointment or Need Patient Information?
Contact UPMC at

1-800-533-8762.

Go to Find a Doctor to search for a UPMC doctor.

2022 PITT HS

12/7/2022

PITTSBURGH — Genetic predisposition to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can predict cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease later in life, revealed an analysis published today in Molecular Psychiatry by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers. 

Although recent large epidemiological studies have hinted at a link between ADHD and Alzheimer’s, this is the first to tie genetic risk of ADHD to chances of developing late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.  

“This study highlights what many in the field are already discussing: The impact of ADHD can be observed throughout the lifespan, and it might be linked to neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease,” said lead author Douglas Leffa, M.D., Ph.D., psychiatry resident at UPMC.  

PASCOAL_THARICKpressSenior author Tharick Pascoal, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at Pitt, added that “with new treatments becoming available at earlier stages of Alzheimer’s progression, it is important to determine risk factors to help better identify patients who are likely to progress to severe disease.”  

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, individuals with ADHD report feeling restless and impulsive and have difficulty maintaining their attention, which leads to reduced quality of their social, school or work lives. For a long time, ADHD was considered a childhood disease that people grow out of after entering adulthood. Doctors now know that ADHD is a childhood disease that may persist into adulthood. The symptoms of ADHD in adults may be more diverse and subtle when compared to children and adolescents, and it can be particularly difficult to diagnose in older adults.   

Not unlike other behavioral disorders, ADHD has a genetic component. But there is no one single gene that will dictate whether its carrier will go on to develop ADHD. Rather, that risk is determined by a combination of small genetic changes.  

To measure this risk, researchers used a previously developed tool called ADHD polygenic risk score, or ADHD-PRS, which represents the combined genetic likelihood for developing the disorder, considering the entire genome sequence.  

Because large-scale studies that follow patients with childhood-diagnosed ADHD into older age are lacking, the researchers had to contend with an incomplete set of data. They drew on genetic predisposition to ADHD in their study cohort, rather than relying on confirmed clinical diagnosis.  

To conduct the study, researchers used a database of 212 adults without cognitive impairments, such as predisposition to other Alzheimer’s related mental health impairments such as dementia, at baseline. The database included brain scans, baseline amyloid and tau levels measured on PET scans and in the cerebrospinal fluid, and results of regular cognitive assessments over the course of six consecutive years. Crucially, researchers also had access to those patients’ genome sequences. 

By calculating each patient’s individual ADHD-PRS and matching it with that patient’s signs of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers were able to show that a higher ADHD-PRS can predict subsequent cognitive deterioration and development of Alzheimer’s brain pathophysiology in the elderly who, until then, were not cognitively impaired.  

While the study results are intriguing and indicate that the link between ADHD-PRS and Alzheimer’s needs to be researched further, the scientists caution against overgeneralizing their findings and urge families to stay informed but calm.  

Because the database demographic was limited to patients who were white and had, on average, more than 16 years of education, more work needs to be done to extend applicability of the findings beyond a thin slice of the American public.  

Additionally, more research is needed to determine whether interventions to correct ADHD can influence risk of Alzheimer’s disease in the future.  

Due to the nature of longitudinal studies, it may take several decades to arrive at a definitive answer, though the team is already working to recruit more participants from underrepresented backgrounds and begin follow-up testing.  

“Right now, we are working on new studies trying to assess ADHD more robustly and enroll childhood ADHD patient cohorts so we can follow them over time for biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease,” said Pascoal. “These studies take a long time to complete, but they are important for our understanding of multifactorial neurological diseases and how they affect cognitive impairments.” 

Additional authors of this study are Joao Pedro Ferrari-Souza, B.S., Bruna Bellaver, Ph.D., Cecile Tissot, B.S., Pamela Ferreira, Ph.D., Dana Tudorascu, Ph.D., Victor Villemagne, M.D., Annie Cohen, Ph.D., Oscar Lopez, M.D., William Klunk, M.D., Ph.D., Thomas Karikari, Ph.D., and Brooke Molina, Ph.D., all from Pitt; Pedro Rosa-Neto, M.D., Ph.D., of McGill University, Canada; Wagner Brum, B.S., of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden; Jodie Lord, M.S., and Petroula Proitsi, Ph.D., both of King’s College London; Thais Martins-Silva, Ph.D., and Luciana Tovo-Rodrigues, Ph.D., both of Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Brazil; Eduardo Zimmer, Ph.D., of Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; and Arthur Caye, M.D., Ph.D., and Luis Augusto Rohde, M.D., Ph.D., both of the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil. 

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01AG075336 and R01AG073267) and the Alzheimer’s Association (AACSF-20-648075), among other funders. 


PHOTO DETAILS: (click images for high-res versions)

 

First photo:

CREDIT: Mary Brady, University of Pittsburgh 

CAPTION: Douglas Leffa

 

Second photo:

CREDIT: UPMC

CAPTION: Tharick Pascoal

 

UPMC
200 Lothrop Street Pittsburgh, PA 15213

412-647-8762 800-533-8762

Patients And Visitors
  • Find a Doctor
  • Locations
  • Pay a Bill
  • Patient & Visitor Resources
  • Disabilities Resource Center
  • Services
  • Medical Records
  • No Surprises Act
  • Price Transparency
  • Financial Assistance
  • Classes & Events
  • Health Library
Health Care Professionals
  • Physician Information
  • Resources
  • Education & Training
  • Departments
  • Credentialing
Newsroom
  • Newsroom Home
  • Inside Life Changing Medicine Blog
  • News Releases
About
  • Why UPMC
  • Facts & Stats
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Community Commitment
  • Financials
  • Supporting UPMC
  • HealthBeat Blog
  • UPMC Apps
  • UPMC Enterprises
  • UPMC Health Plan
  • UPMC International
  • Nondiscrimination Policy
Life changing is...
Follow UPMC
  • Contact Us
  • Website/Email Terms of Use
  • Medical Advice Disclaimer
  • Privacy Information
  • Active Privacy Alerts
  • Sitemap
© 2025 UPMC I Affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences Supplemental content provided by Healthwise, Incorporated. To learn more, visit healthwise.org
Find Care
Providers
Video Visit
Portal Login