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Exploratory analysis of diffusion tensor imaging in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: evidence of abnormal white matter structure

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ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders

Abstract

Abnormalities in the white matter microstructure of the attentional system have been implicated in the aetiology of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a promising magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology that has increasingly been used in studies of white matter microstructure in the brain. The main objective of this work was to perform an exploratory analysis of white matter tracts in a sample of children with ADHD versus typically developing children (TDC). For this purpose, 13 drug-naive children with ADHD of both genders underwent MRI using DTI acquisition methodology and tract-based spatial statistics. The results were compared to those of a sample of 14 age- and gender-matched TDC. Lower fractional anisotropy was observed in the splenium of the corpus callosum, right superior longitudinal fasciculus, bilateral retrolenticular part of the internal capsule, bilateral inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, left external capsule and posterior thalamic radiation (including right optic radiation). We conclude that white matter tracts in attentional and motor control systems exhibited signs of abnormal microstructure in this sample of drug-naive children with ADHD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rua Bruno Lobo, 50, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21941-590, Brazil

    Giuseppe Pastura & Alexandra Prüfer Araújo

  2. CDPI Neuroimaging, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Thomas Doering

  3. Department of Radiology, The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Emerson Leandro Gasparetto

  4. Department of Psychiatry, The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Paulo Mattos

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  1. Giuseppe Pastura
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  2. Thomas Doering
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  3. Emerson Leandro Gasparetto
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  4. Paulo Mattos
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  5. Alexandra Prüfer Araújo
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Correspondence to Giuseppe Pastura.

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Pastura, G., Doering, T., Gasparetto, E.L. et al. Exploratory analysis of diffusion tensor imaging in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: evidence of abnormal white matter structure. ADHD Atten Def Hyp Disord 8, 65–71 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12402-015-0185-y

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