TY - JOUR
T1 - Connectomic disturbances in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a whole-brain tractography analysis
AU - Hong, Soon Beom
AU - Zalesky, Andrew
AU - Fornito, Alex
AU - Park, Subin
AU - Yang, Young Hui
AU - Park, Min-Hyeon
AU - Song, In-Chan
AU - Sohn, Chul-Ho
AU - Shin, Min Sup
AU - Kim, Bung-Nyun
AU - Cho, Soo-Churl
AU - Han, Doug Hyun
AU - Cheong, Jae Hoon
AU - Kim, Jae-Won
PY - 2014/10/15
Y1 - 2014/10/15
N2 - Background: Few studies have sought to identify, in a regionally unbiased way, the precise cortical and subcortical regions that are affected by white matter abnormalities in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study aimed to derive a comprehensive, whole-brain characterization of connectomic disturbances in ADHD. Methods: Using diffusion tensor imaging, whole-brain tractography, and an imaging connectomics approach, we characterized altered white matter connectivity in 71 children and adolescents with ADHD compared with 26 healthy control subjects. White matter differences were further delineated between patients with (n = 40) and without (n = 26) the predominantly hyperactive/impulsive subtype of ADHD. Results: A significant network comprising 25 distinct fiber bundles linking 23 different brain regions spanning frontal, striatal, and cerebellar brain regions showed altered white matter structure in ADHD patients (p <.05, family-wise error-corrected). Moreover, fractional anisotropy in some of these fiber bundles correlated with attentional disturbances. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder subtypes were differentiated by a right-lateralized network (p <.05, family-wise error-corrected) predominantly linking frontal, cingulate, and supplementary motor areas. Fractional anisotropy in this network was also correlated with continuous performance test scores. Conclusions: Using an unbiased, whole-brain, data-driven approach, we demonstrated abnormal white matter connectivity in ADHD. The correlations observed with measures of attentional performance underscore the functional importance of these connectomic disturbances for the clinical phenotype of ADHD. A distributed pattern of white matter microstructural integrity separately involving frontal, striatal, and cerebellar brain regions, rather than direct frontostriatal connectivity, appears to be disrupted in children and adolescents with ADHD.
AB - Background: Few studies have sought to identify, in a regionally unbiased way, the precise cortical and subcortical regions that are affected by white matter abnormalities in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study aimed to derive a comprehensive, whole-brain characterization of connectomic disturbances in ADHD. Methods: Using diffusion tensor imaging, whole-brain tractography, and an imaging connectomics approach, we characterized altered white matter connectivity in 71 children and adolescents with ADHD compared with 26 healthy control subjects. White matter differences were further delineated between patients with (n = 40) and without (n = 26) the predominantly hyperactive/impulsive subtype of ADHD. Results: A significant network comprising 25 distinct fiber bundles linking 23 different brain regions spanning frontal, striatal, and cerebellar brain regions showed altered white matter structure in ADHD patients (p <.05, family-wise error-corrected). Moreover, fractional anisotropy in some of these fiber bundles correlated with attentional disturbances. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder subtypes were differentiated by a right-lateralized network (p <.05, family-wise error-corrected) predominantly linking frontal, cingulate, and supplementary motor areas. Fractional anisotropy in this network was also correlated with continuous performance test scores. Conclusions: Using an unbiased, whole-brain, data-driven approach, we demonstrated abnormal white matter connectivity in ADHD. The correlations observed with measures of attentional performance underscore the functional importance of these connectomic disturbances for the clinical phenotype of ADHD. A distributed pattern of white matter microstructural integrity separately involving frontal, striatal, and cerebellar brain regions, rather than direct frontostriatal connectivity, appears to be disrupted in children and adolescents with ADHD.
KW - ADHD
KW - connectomics
KW - diffusion tensor imaging
KW - network
KW - tractography
KW - white matter
UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006322314000031
U2 - 10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.12.013
DO - 10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.12.013
M3 - Article
SN - 0006-3223
VL - 76
SP - 656
EP - 663
JO - Biological Psychiatry
JF - Biological Psychiatry
IS - 8
ER -