title: The relationship of brain structure to age and executive functioning in adolescent disruptive behavior disorder.
abstract: Characterizing brain maturation in adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) may provide insight into the progression of their behavioral deficits. Therefore, this study examined how age and executive functioning were related to structural neural characteristics in DBD. Thirty-three individuals (aged 13-17) with a DBD, along with a matched control sample, completed neuropsychological testing and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure gray matter volume and microstructural white matter properties. Voxel-based morphometry quantified gray matter volume, and diffusion tensor imaging measured fractional anisotropy (FA) in white matter tracts. In the anterior cingulate, gray matter volume decreased with age in healthy controls but showed no such change in the DBD sample. In the corpus callosum and superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), FA increased with age in the control sample significantly more than in the DBD sample. Executive functioning, particularly working memory, was associated with SLF FA bilaterally. However, the relationship of SLF FA to working memory performance was weaker in the DBD sample. These data suggest that youth with DBD have altered brain development compared with typically developing youth. The abnormal maturation of the anterior cingulate and frontoparietal tracts during adolescence may contribute to the persistence of behavioral deficits in teens with a DBD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA. Electronic address: thummer@iupui.edu.
authors.forename: Tom A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Hummer
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Department of Radiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: William G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Kronenberger
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Vincent P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Mathews
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D019958:Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000473:pathology*; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000254:growth & development / Q000473:pathology; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000254:growth & development / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests
keywords: Adolescence; Conduct disorder; Diffusion tensor imaging; Executive function; Oppositional defiant disorder; Voxel-based morphometry