TY - JOUR
T1 - Sex-Based Dissociation of White Matter Microstructure in Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
AU - Jacobson, Lisa A.
AU - Peterson, Daniel J.
AU - Rosch, Keri S.
AU - Crocetti, Deana
AU - Mori, Susumu
AU - Mostofsky, Stewart H.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke: RO1 MH078160; RO1 MH085328; K23 MH101322; R01NS084957; P41EB015909, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Institute for Clinical and Translational Research NIH/National Center for Research Resources Clinical and Translational Science Award program UL1 TR 000424-06, and was carried out in part at the F.M. Kirby Center for Functional Brain Imaging, using resources provided under P41 EB015909.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
PY - 2015/11
Y1 - 2015/11
N2 - Objective Sexual dimorphism is evident in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), including subtype prevalence, adverse outcomes, and neural phenotype. Neurobiological studies of ADHD suggest that boys show more abnormalities in motor and premotor structure and function, whereas girls differ from typically developing (TD) peers in prefrontal circuitry. We applied diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to identify ADHD-related sex-specific differences in motor/premotor and prefrontal white matter (WM) microstructure in children. Method DTI estimated differences in WM microstructure among 120 children 8 to 12 years of age, 60 with ADHD (30 boys and 30 girls) and 60 controls (30 boys and 30 girls), matched on age, IQ, and handedness. Effects of diagnosis and sex on fractional anisotropy (FA) were assessed in motor/premotor and prefrontal regions. Group differences in FA and associations with response control (e.g., reaction time variability [CVRT] and commission error rate) were examined separately within sex. Results Sex-by-diagnosis interactions were observed for FA in primary motor (M1) and medial orbitofrontal (MOFC) cortex. Post hoc tests revealed that boys with ADHD showed bilateral reductions in FA within M1, compared with TD peers; in contrast, girls with ADHD showed higher FA bilaterally within MOFC. Decreased M1 FA was associated with higher CVRT in boys and higher commission error rates in girls. For MOFC, lower FA was associated with greater CVRT and commission error rates across all participants with ADHD. Conclusion ADHD affects the white matter of boys and girls differently; boys appear to be more affected in regions responsible for control of basic actions, whereas girls show more abnormalities in regions responsible for higher-level, top-down control.
AB - Objective Sexual dimorphism is evident in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), including subtype prevalence, adverse outcomes, and neural phenotype. Neurobiological studies of ADHD suggest that boys show more abnormalities in motor and premotor structure and function, whereas girls differ from typically developing (TD) peers in prefrontal circuitry. We applied diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to identify ADHD-related sex-specific differences in motor/premotor and prefrontal white matter (WM) microstructure in children. Method DTI estimated differences in WM microstructure among 120 children 8 to 12 years of age, 60 with ADHD (30 boys and 30 girls) and 60 controls (30 boys and 30 girls), matched on age, IQ, and handedness. Effects of diagnosis and sex on fractional anisotropy (FA) were assessed in motor/premotor and prefrontal regions. Group differences in FA and associations with response control (e.g., reaction time variability [CVRT] and commission error rate) were examined separately within sex. Results Sex-by-diagnosis interactions were observed for FA in primary motor (M1) and medial orbitofrontal (MOFC) cortex. Post hoc tests revealed that boys with ADHD showed bilateral reductions in FA within M1, compared with TD peers; in contrast, girls with ADHD showed higher FA bilaterally within MOFC. Decreased M1 FA was associated with higher CVRT in boys and higher commission error rates in girls. For MOFC, lower FA was associated with greater CVRT and commission error rates across all participants with ADHD. Conclusion ADHD affects the white matter of boys and girls differently; boys appear to be more affected in regions responsible for control of basic actions, whereas girls show more abnormalities in regions responsible for higher-level, top-down control.
KW - Intrasubject variability
KW - attention
KW - diffusion tensor imaging
KW - response control
KW - sex differences
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jaac.2015.08.014
DO - 10.1016/j.jaac.2015.08.014
M3 - Article
C2 - 26506584
AN - SCOPUS:84944894710
SN - 0890-8567
VL - 54
SP - 938
EP - 946
JO - Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry
JF - Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry
IS - 11
ER -