Abstract
Widespread alterations in the corpus callosum (CC) microstructure and organization have been found in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); however, few studies have investigated the diffusion characteristics and volume of transcallosal fiber tracts defined by specific cortical projections in ADHD, which is important for identifying distinct functional interhemispheric connection abnormalities. In the current study, an automated fiber-tract quantification (AFQ) approach based on diffusion tensor imaging identified seven CC tracts according to their cortical projections and estimated diffusion parameters and volume among 76 drug-naïve ADHD patients (53 boys and 23 girls) and 37 typically develo** children (TDC) (20 boys and 17 girls) matched for age, IQ, and handedness. We found significantly lower fractional anisotropy (FA) in the occipital and superior parietal tracts and higher mean diffusivity (MD) in the posterior, superior parietal and anterior frontal tracts in children with ADHD compared with TDC. In addition, lower FA and higher radial diffusivity (RD) in the occipital callosal tract were significantly associated with higher hyperactivity and impulsivity performance in ADHD. In addition, sex-by-diagnosis interactions were observed in the occipital, posterior and superior parietal tracts. Girls with ADHD showed decreased FA and volume in the occipital tract, which were significantly associated with increased impulsivity performance and poor response control, and increased MD in the posterior and superior parietal callosal tracts, which were significantly associated with increased inattention performance, whereas boys with ADHD merely showed decreased volume in the frontal tract. Our results elucidated that sex-specific alterations in the CC tracts potentially underlie ADHD symptomatology and further suggested a differential contribution of abnormalities in different CC tracts to impulsivity and inattention among girls with ADHD.
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This study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81671669), the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (Grant No. LY20H090009), the Wenzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau (Grant No. Y20190095 and Grant No. Y2020790), and the Department of Science and Technology of Sichuan Province (Grant No. 2017JQ0001).
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QL, XB, XH and CY designed the study, contributed to data analysis, interpreted the data and wrote the manuscript; XH and CY contributed to study supervision, obtained funding, and reviewed and commented on the first draft of the manuscript; **aoqi Huang and Chuang Yang contributed equally to playing the role of the corresponding author; HC, YL, WW, YY, and HL contributed to data acquisition and processing; LL, YG, AQ, SC and MW assisted with data analysis and interpretation of findings. All authors critically reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript submitted for publication.
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Lin, Q., Bu, X., Chen, H. et al. Sex differences in microstructural alterations in the corpus callosum tracts in drug-naïve children with ADHD. Brain Imaging and Behavior 16, 1592–1604 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-021-00556-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-021-00556-y