title: Whole-brain voxel-based morphometry study of children and adolescents with Down syndrome.
abstract: In order to investigate alterations in brain morphology and a possible temporal pattern of neuroanatomical abnormalities in the gray matter (GM), white matter (WM) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of young patients with Down syndrome (DS), high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was performed on 21 children and adolescents with this chromosomal aberration and 27 age-matched participants as controls. In comparison with control subjects, children and adolescents with DS showed not only an overall smaller whole-brain volume, but also volume reductions of the GM in the cerebellum, frontal lobes, frontal region of the limbic lobe, parahippocampal gyri and hippocampi and of the WM in the cerebellum, frontal and parietal lobes, sub-lobar regions and brainstem. By contrast, volume preservation was observed in the GM of the parietal lobes, temporal lobe and sub-lobar regions and in the WM of the temporal lobe and temporal regions of the limbic lobe. A lower volume of CSF was also detected in the frontal lobes. This study is the first to use the high-resolution MRI VBM method to describe a whole-brain pattern of abnormalities in young DS patients falling within such a narrow age range and it provides new information on the neuroanatomically specific regional changes that occur during development in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Child Development Department, San Raffaele Cassino, Cassino, Italy. filippo.carducci@uniroma1.it
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carducci
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Onorati
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Condoluci
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Gennaro
authors.forename: Pier Paolo
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Quarato
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pierallini
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sarà
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miano
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cornia
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Albertini
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002891:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 21 / Q000235:genetics; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male