A new study published this month caught my eye, not because it reinforces what we already know, but because it challenges how we think about mental and behavioral health, specifically in children.
The study offers another evidence-based explanation for why mental health symptoms and conditions so often cluster together. A diagnosis of ADHD, for example, significantly increases the likelihood of also facing anxiety or conduct challenges. That’s not a coincidence. The same brain regions are involved across four of the most commonly diagnosed conditions in youth today: ADHD, anxiety, depression, and conduct disorder
Researchers analyzed brain scans from nearly 9,000 youth with diagnoses ranging from anxiety and depression to ADHD and conduct disorder. What they found validates what parents and professionals have observed for years: a child struggling with attention and impulse control will also experience differences in emotional regulation. Someone facing anxiety will also experience a reduction in attention. These symptoms, which come from the brain, do not happen in isolation but share overlapping connections. The scans in this study were visible examples of this overlap:
Despite having different diagnoses, these children showed remarkably similar changes in key brain regions.
Let me say that another way:
What looks different on the surface may share the same underlying developmental vulnerabilities.
That should reshape how we approach support, intervention, and prevention.
Mental health disorders are not simply symptoms of mood and behavior, but differences in brain connectivity, and this connectivity involves a complicated network of brain connections, not merely isolated symptoms.
Published in Biological Psychiatry (2025), the research identified reduced cortical surface area in regions tied to:
This pattern showed up:
And it suggests something important:
These conditions aren’t isolated “problems.” They’re different expressions of shared, foundational brain-development challenges.
In other words: labels differ, but the underlying brain systems often do not. This helps to explain why co-occurring diagnoses are so common and why misdiagnosis can occur.
When diagnoses overlap this much in the brain, our mindset has to shift from “Which box does this child fit into?” to “What systems are still developing and how can we strengthen them?”
Here’s why that shift matters:
While receiving a diagnosis can sometimes feel like a relief because it provides context and understanding of what someone is experiencing, it’s important to remember that a diagnosis is simply the naming of a series of symptoms. This can be an essential step in a personal journey towards wellness, but it doesn’t always offer concrete action steps or answers. If multiple diagnoses reflect similar structural vulnerabilities, chasing the “perfect” label won’t unlock the best strategy. Strengthening the brain systems underneath will.
At Brain Balance, we start from a simple truth: Kids don’t grow in silos. Neither should their support. Awareness of symptoms is critical, but addressing each symptom individually is simply not how the brain works.
While this approach has been commonplace for decades, it’s time we evolved our interventions to align with the research. Behavioral challenges: seek parenting and behavioral support; attention disruptions: take medication; sensory sensitivities: use desensitization strategies to build tolerance. Each approach is beneficial, but they each focus only on one visible symptom, not the underlying, interconnected brain networks from which these symptoms arise.
This new research reinforces what we’ve seen clinically for years—children with different outward challenges often share underlying gaps in brain development across emotional, cognitive, sensory, and motor systems.
We see it in our outcomes at Brain Balance. A child who shows improvement in attention also has significant gains across emotional regulation, behavior, and cognition. The brain networks overlap and work together. Here’s how our approach aligns with the science:
Because these brain patterns overlap, waiting for a diagnosis only delays support.
We focus on how the brain is functioning—attention, regulation, coordination, cognitive skills—because those systems drive real-world outcomes. Youu don’t need a diagnosis to experience challenges that can be reduced.
The areas showing reduced surface area are the very regions engaged through our multi-domain program:
Strengthening these systems isn’t about treating a diagnosis; it’s about building the infrastructure that supports the domains of brain health and development.
A brain that regulates emotion more effectively…
A body that processes sensory input more smoothly…
A mind that can shift attention, inhibit impulses, and stay engaged…
These aren’t separate wins. They develop together. That’s the advantage of a multi-domain approach; it respects how the brain actually grows.
And importantly, we measure outcomes. A recent independent study of the at-home Brain Balance program showed meaningful gains in attention, inhibitory control, and working memory: skills directly connected to the systems highlighted in the 2025 research.
And our Multi-Domain Developmental Survey analysis consistently shows reductions of 30–40% in parent-reported concerns across the emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and sensory-motor domains. When you strengthen foundational systems, improvement happens everywhere.
This research should give parents something invaluable: clarity and hope. If different behavioral and mental health challenges share common developmental roots, then strengthening those roots can change the trajectory—not just for symptoms today, but for lifelong brain health.
The study’s authors put it simply:
"Because the brain is still developing, understanding these shared vulnerabilities creates opportunities for early intervention and prevention."
Exactly.
We can build these systems.
We can strengthen these pathways.
We can change the brain.
And that is what we do every day at Brain Balance.
When we support the whole brain—not the label—we open the door to who a child can become, not just how a diagnosis defines them.
Fill out the form above and book your child the support they deserve and take the first step toward improved focus, regulation, and confidence.