For years, autism and ADHD have been treated as separate boxes. A 2025 study published in Molecular Psychiatry by Dr. Adriana Di Martino and the Child Mind Institute suggests they may be two sides of the same coin.
What the study found
Using resting-state fMRI, researchers scanned 166 children aged 6 to 12, each with a clear primary diagnosis of either autism or ADHD (without autism). They looked at how strongly different brain networks talk to each other.
The result was striking: it was the severity of autistic traits, not the diagnostic label, that lined up with a specific brain pattern. The stronger the autistic traits, the more tightly two key regions were connected.
Which brain regions
The pattern involved increased connectivity between the frontoparietal network (executive function, planning, attention) and the default-mode network (self-reflection, social cognition). In typical development, this link normally loosens with age. In children with stronger autistic traits, it stayed tight, pointing to a different pace of brain maturation.
Crucially, this appeared across all children, whether labelled autistic or ADHD.
The genetic overlap
The team then matched these connectivity maps against where genes are active in the brain. The pattern overlapped with genes involved in how neurons grow and connect, genes already linked to both autism and ADHD. In other words, a shared clinical picture mapped onto a shared biological one.
Why this matters for you
This is why so many people recognise themselves in both profiles, the rise of the term AuDHD. If you have ADHD but always felt some autistic traits fit too, the science now backs up that overlap. Traits exist on a spectrum, and a single label rarely tells the whole story.
It also explains why one diagnosis can mask the other, and why a dimensional view, looking at your actual traits rather than a yes/no box, is more useful.
Explore your own profile
Curious where you sit? Our screening tools are free and take a few minutes each: the autism test (AQ-10) and the ADHD test (ASRS). Taking both gives you a fuller, dimensional picture, exactly the approach this research supports.
References: Di Martino A. et al. (2025). Connectome-based symptom mapping and in silico related gene expression in children with autism and/or ADHD. Molecular Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-025-03205-8 | Child Mind Institute.