The International Multisite ADHD Genetics (IMAGE) project is an ongoing genetic initiative funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. The aim of the project is to enrich the Dutch database with structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI), functional MRI (fMRI), and neuropsychological data, and make it publicly available.
Since 2002, extensive phenotypic, endophenotypic (neuropsychological) and genotypic information of about 5758 subjects from 1401 ADHD families in 8 countries in Europe has been collected. A substantial subsample (1625 subjects from 388 families) of this database has been collected in the Netherlands by research groups in Nijmegen, Amsterdam and Groningen. The Dutch database also includes phenotypic and endophenotypic data from 301 healthy control children from 271 families.
Having access to the genotypes of the GWAS will allow us and other investigators to clarify the consequences of ADHD risk alleles at the level of both brain function and structure, increase our understanding of the pathophysiology of ADHD, and examine the role of genes in the persistence and outcome of ADHD over time.