title: Decreased thalamic volumes in adolescent inhalant users from Korea and Australia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Research investigating the impact of inhalant misuse on brain structure suggests abnormalities in subcortical regions. We investigated the association between inhalant misuse and subcortical brain volumes in adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Based on a collaborative dataset from South Korea (inhalant users: N = 15, mean age = 16.7, SD = 1.1; controls: N = 15, mean age = 15.4, SD = 1.2) and Australia (inhalant users: N = 7, mean age = 18.2, SD = 1.4; controls: N = 7, mean age = 18.9, SD = 2.6), the volumes of caudate nucleus, putamen, pallidum, amygdala, hippocampus, and thalamus were estimated in adolescent inhalant users and healthy adolescents using FreeSurfer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results revealed a significantly decreased right thalamic volume in adolescent inhalant users (P = 0.042), along with a trend-level decrease in left thalamic volume (P = 0.061). A negative correlation (r = -0.544; P = 0.036) between thalamic volume and severity of inhalant use (i.e., reduced volumes associated with greater use) was identified among Korean participants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that compared with other subcortical structures, the thalamus is particularly sensitive to damage following chronic inhalant exposure during adolescence.
authors.affiliation: Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health , Parkville, Victoria , Australia.
authors.forename: Soon-Beom
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Eun-Jung
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Ho-Hyun
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jeong-Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.forename: Dan I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Lubman
authors.forename: Jae-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chang-Dai
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Soon-Hyung
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yücel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D058545:Inhalant Abuse / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D059906:Neuroimaging; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D013788:Thalamus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: adolescent; inhalant misuse; magnetic resonance imaging; subcortical volume; thalamus