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White Matter Microstructural Properties of the Cerebellar Peduncles Predict Change in Symptoms of Psychopathology in Adolescent Girls

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Abstract

Internalizing symptoms typically emerge in adolescence and are more prevalent in females than in males; in contrast, externalizing symptoms typically emerge in childhood and are more commonly observed in males. Previous research has implicated aspects of white matter organization, including fractional anisotropy (FA), of cerebral tracts in both internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Although the cerebellum has been posited to integrate limbic and cortical regions, its role in psychopathology is not well understood. In this longitudinal study, we investigated whether FA of the superior (SCP), middle (MCP), and inferior cerebellar peduncles (ICP) predict change in symptoms and whether sex moderates this association. One hundred eleven adolescents completed the Youth Self-Report, assessing symptoms at baseline (ages 9–13 years) and again 2 years later. Participants also underwent diffusion-weighted imaging at baseline. We used deterministic tractography to segment and compute mean FA of the cerebellar peduncles. Lower FA of the right SCP at baseline predicted increases in internalizing symptoms in females only. Lower FA in the right SCP and ICP also predicted increases in externalizing symptoms in females, but these associations did not survive multiple comparison correction. There was no association between FA of the cerebellar peduncles and change in symptoms in males or between MCP FA and symptom changes in males or females. Organizational properties of the SCP may be a sex-specific marker of internalizing symptom changes in adolescence. The cerebellar peduncles should be explored further in future studies to elucidate sex differences in symptoms.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Cat Camacho, Anna Cichocki, Monica Ellwood-Lowe, Megan Goyer, Amar Ojha, Holly Pham, Morgan Popolizio, Alexandra Price, Sophie Schouboe, and Lucinda Sisk for their assistance in data collection and management. We also thank all the adolescents and their families for participating in this research study.

Funding

The National Institutes of Health supported this research (NIH; R37MH101495 to IHG, F32MH120975 to RC, K01MH117442 to TCH).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Stanford University, 450 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Lauren R. Borchers, Rajpreet Chahal & Ian H. Gotlib

  2. Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Stanford School of Medicine, 1265 Welch Road, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Lisa Bruckert

  3. Allen Institute, 615 Westlake Avenue North, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA

    Dana Mastrovito

  4. Department of Psychiatry & Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, 401 Parnassus Ave, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA

    Tiffany C. Ho

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  1. Lauren R. Borchers
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Borchers, L.R., Bruckert, L., Chahal, R. et al. White Matter Microstructural Properties of the Cerebellar Peduncles Predict Change in Symptoms of Psychopathology in Adolescent Girls. Cerebellum 21, 380–390 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12311-021-01307-x

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