# Co-occurring ADHD in young children with ASD: Precursors, detection, neural signatures, and early treatment

> **NIH NIH P50** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $2,486,902

## Abstract

ABSTRACT – Co-occurring ADHD in young children with ASD: Precursors, detection, neural signatures, and
 early treatment
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) occurs in ~40-60% of individuals with autism spectrum disorder
(ASD) and substantially contributes to poorer clinical outcomes. Yet, very little research has focused on the
overlap of ASD and ADHD during early childhood. Thus, little is known about how these two conditions co-
emerge early in life. Given the high prevalence and clinical impact of the comorbidity of ASD and ADHD, the
overall goal of the Duke Autism Center of Excellence is to characterize how co-occurring ADHD influences
early screening, neural signatures, developmental trajectories, and response to early treatment of young
children with ASD. Project 1 will characterize risk factors for and emergence of co-occurring ADHD symptoms
in young children at risk for ASD and examine how these symptoms influence early detection and progression
of ASD. This project will clarify why children who have co-occurring ADHD are diagnosed at a much later age
and inform more effective early detection strategies. Following a large sample of toddlers receiving routine care
in Duke pediatric primary clinics (N = ~ 2800 patients/year), Project 1 will prospectively identify children at risk
for ASD and collect data on risk factors, ADHD, and developmental outcomes. Project 2 will elucidate shared
and distinct neural signatures and attention-related biomarkers related to ASD and ADHD, examine the
functional impact of co-occurring ADHD in young children with ASD, and identify precursor characteristics
during infancy that are predictive of later emergence of comorbid ASD and ADHD. This project will characterize
children with ASD alone, ASD+ADHD, ADHD alone, and typically-developing children, using state-of-the-art
methods, including neurophysiology, eye-tracking, movement-tracking, and computer vision analysis. Project
3 will evaluate a novel early intervention model personalized for young children with ASD+ADHD that
pharmacologically addresses ADHD symptoms prior to initiating early behavioral intervention, and identify
changes in behavioral and neurophysiological activity that may underlie response to treatment. This project will
accomplish these goals by evaluating whether stimulant treatment (Adzenys-XR-ODT) augments the efficacy
of a parent-delivered behavioral intervention based on the Early Start Denver Model. This project will examine
whether changes in outcome are correlated with improvements in social attention, measured via eye-tracking
biomarkers, and social engagement during parent-child interaction. This project will also examine
neurophysiological changes underlying improvements in behavior. These projects will be supported by four
cores: Administrative Core, Recruitment and Assessment Core, Data Management and Analysis Core,
and Dissemination and Outreach Core. Functioning as a whole, the Duke Autism Center of Excellence will
o...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10227709
- **Project number:** 5P50HD093074-05
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Geraldine Dawson
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $2,486,902
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-07 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10227709

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10227709, Co-occurring ADHD in young children with ASD: Precursors, detection, neural signatures, and early treatment (5P50HD093074-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10227709. Licensed CC0.

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