title: Cerebellar neurometabolite abnormalities in pediatric attention/deficit hyperactivity disorder: a proton MR spectroscopic study.
abstract: We designed a case-control proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic study comparing the cerebellar and prefrontal regions of a group of 17 ADHD (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder) medicated children and a group of 17 control children matched for laterality, gender and age. As we had found decreased gray matter volume in the right prefrontal region and the left cerebellar hemisphere in a previous voxel-based morphometry study conducted on an independent ADHD sample, we tested the hypothesis that these regions should show neurometabolite abnormalities. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) was performed with a 1.5 T system; spectral acquisition was performed with a single-voxel technique and a PRESS sequence. Two volumes of interest were selected in the right prefrontal region and the left cerebellar hemisphere. NAA (N-acetylaspartate), Cre (creatine), Cho (choline), MI (myo-inositol) and Glx (glutamate-glutamine) resonance intensities were absolutely quantified. In the left cerebellar hemisphere, ADHD children showed significant decreased MI and NAA absolute concentrations with high effect sizes (p=0.004, ES=1.184; p=0.001, ES=1.083). The diminished absolute concentration of the NAA could be related to a gray matter volume decrease in the same cerebellar region found in the previous voxel-based morphometry MRI study, while the reduced MI absolute concentration could express a decreased glial density. This is the first proton MR spectroscopic study examining the cerebellum and it provides additional support for the role of cerebellum in the ADHD neurobiology.
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca en Neurociència Cognitiva (URNC), Department of Psychiatry, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Spain. 24744jsv@comb.es
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Soliva
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fauquet
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bielsa
authors.forename: Susanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carmona
authors.forename: Juan Domingo
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Gispert
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rovira
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bulbena
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Vilarroya
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000378:metabolism*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000378:metabolism; D011522:Protons
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D011522:Protons; D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate