title: Infant brain structures, executive function, and attention deficit/hyperactivity problems at preschool age. A prospective study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neuroimaging findings have provided evidence for a relation between variations in brain structures and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, longitudinal neuroimaging studies are typically confined to children who have already been diagnosed with ADHD. In a population-based study, we aimed to characterize the prospective association between brain structures measured during infancy and executive function and attention deficit/hyperactivity problems assessed at preschool age.
  
  
  METHODS
  In the Generation R Study, the corpus callosum length, the gangliothalamic ovoid diameter (encompassing the basal ganglia and thalamus), and the ventricular volume were measured in 784 6-week-old children using cranial postnatal ultrasounds. Parents rated executive functioning at 4 years using the behavior rating inventory of executive function-preschool version in five dimensions: inhibition, shifting, emotional control, working memory, and planning/organizing. Attention deficit/hyperactivity problems were assessed at ages 3 and 5 years using the child behavior checklist.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A smaller corpus callosum length during infancy was associated with greater deficits in executive functioning at 4 years. This was accounted for by higher problem scores on inhibition and emotional control. The corpus callosum length during infancy did not predict attention deficit/hyperactivity problem at 3 and 5 years, when controlling for the confounders. We did not find any relation between gangliothalamic ovoid diameter and executive function or Attention deficit/hyperactivity problem.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Variations in brain structures detectible in infants predicted subtle impairments in inhibition and emotional control. However, in this population-based study, we could not demonstrate that early structural brain variations precede symptoms of ADHD.
authors.affiliation: The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Akhgar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghassabian
authors.forename: Catherine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Herba
authors.forename: Sabine J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Roza
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Govaert
authors.forename: Jacqueline J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Schenk
authors.forename: Vincent W
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Jaddoe
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hofman
authors.forename: Tonya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Frank C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Verhulst
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tiemeier
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D004453:Echoencephalography; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D013788:Thalamus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging