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Objective Irritability is a common characteristic in ADHD. We examined whether dysfunction in neural connections supporting threat and reward processing was related to irritability in adolescents and young adults with ADHD. Method We used resting-state fMRI to assess connectivity of amygdala and nucleus accumbens seeds in those with ADHD ( n = 34) and an age- and gender-matched typically-developing comparison group ( n = 34). Results In those with ADHD, irritability was associated with atypical functional connectivity of both seed regions. Amygdala seeds showed greater connectivity with right inferior frontal gyrus and caudate/putamen, and less connectivity with precuneus. Nucleus accumbens seeds showed altered connectivity with middle temporal gyrus and precuneus. Conclusion The irritability-ADHD presentation is associated with atypical functional connectivity of reward and threat processing regions with cognitive control and emotion processing regions. These patterns provide novel evidence for irritability-associated neural underpinnings in adolescents and young adults with ADHD. The findings suggest cognitive and behavioral treatments that address response to reward, including omission of an expected reward and irritability, may be beneficial for ADHD.

Objective: This study compared affect recognition abilities between adults with and without ADHD. Method: The sample consisted of 51 participants (34 men, 17 women) divided into 3 groups: ADHD-combined type (ADHD-C; n = 17), ADHD-predominantly inattentive type (ADHD-I; n = 16), and controls ( n = 18). The mean age was 34 years. Affect recognition abilities were assessed by the Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy (DANVA). Results: ANOVA showed that the ADHD-I group made more fearful emotion errors relative to the control group. Inattentive symptoms were positively correlated, whereas hyperactive-impulsive symptoms were negatively correlated with affect recognition errors. Conclusion: These results suggested that affect recognition abilities may be impaired in adults with ADHD and that affect recognition abilities are more adversely affected by inattentive than hyperactive-impulsive symptoms.