Structural development of the basal ganglia in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A diffusion tensor imaging study

Silk, Timothy J.; Vance, Alasdair; Rinehart, Nicole; Bradshaw, John L.; Cunnington, Ross

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2008.07.003

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 172, Issue 3 , Pages 220-225, 30 June 2009

Structural development of the basal ganglia in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A diffusion tensor imaging study

Timothy J. Silk
- School of Psychology and Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Corresponding author. Developmental and Functional Brain Imaging, Critical Care and Neuroscience, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, 3052, Australia. Tel.: +613 8341 4315.
Alasdair Vance
- Academic Child Psychiatry Unit, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Royal Children's Hospital, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Nicole Rinehart
- School of Psychology, Psychiatry & Psychological Medicine, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
John L. Bradshaw
- School of Psychology, Psychiatry & Psychological Medicine, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
Ross Cunnington
- School of Psychology and Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Received 18 January 2008; received in revised form 11 June 2008; accepted 4 July 2008.

Abstract

One of the most consistently reported brain regions of structural and functional difference in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the basal ganglia, particularly the caudate nucleus. Examining the structural organization of the basal ganglia in ADHD is important because it is the center of wider fronto-striatal networks, reported to be dysfunctional in ADHD. Fifteen right-handed 8- to 18-year-old males with ADHD-combined type and 15 right-handed, age- and performance IQ-matched healthy males underwent diffusion tensor imaging. Caudate, putamen and thalamus were manually identified as regions of interest (ROIs) and tested for differences in fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity. Measures of fractional anisotropy (FA) showed the expected increase with age within the whole-brain volume and within putamen and thalamus ROIs for both ADHD and control groups. In the caudate nucleus, however, developmental changes in FA with age were significantly different between ADHD and control groups. This study shows that the developmental trajectory of micro-structural organization within the caudate nucleus is different in children with ADHD compared with controls over ages 8–18 years. We suggest that the difference in developmental trajectories arises predominantly during mid-late adolescence and may reflect a developmental delay that begins to normalise over this critical late adolescent age.

Keywords: ADHD, Basal ganglia, Caudate, Diffusion tensor imaging