Background

Emotion dysregulation (ED) is prevalent in youths with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and causes more social impairment and poor adaptive function. Alterations in the integrity of white matter (WM) tracts might have important implications for affective processing related to ED. However, little is known about the WM correlates underpinning ED in ADHD.

Methods

Using diffusion spectrum image tractography, we obtained generalized fractional anisotropy (GFA) values of 76 WM tracts in 77 children with ADHD and 105 typically developing controls (TDC). ED severity was defined by the dysregulation profile from the child behavior checklist. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) was performed to identify modes that relate WM microstructural property to ED severity and cognitive measures.

Results

The application of CCA identified one significant mode (r = 0.638, FWE-corrected p = 0.046) of interdependencies between WM property patterns and diagnosis, ADHD total symptom levels, dysregulation by diagnosis interaction, and full-scale intellectual quotient (FIQ). GFA values of 19 WM tracts that were linked to affective-processing, sensory-processing and integration, and cognitive control circuitry were positively correlated with ED severity in TDC but negatively correlated with ED severity in ADHD. ADHD symptom severity and diagnosis were negatively associated with the GFA patterns of this set of tract bundles. In contrast, FIQ was positively correlated with this set of tract bundles.

Conclusions

This study used the CCA to show that children with ADHD and TDC had distinct multivariate associations between ED severity (diagnosis by ED interaction) and microstructural property in a set of WM tracts. These tracts interconnect the cortical regions that are principally involved in emotion processing, integration, and cognitive control in multiple brain systems. The WM microstructure integrity impairment might be an essential correlate of emotion dysregulation in ADHD.

中文翻译：

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白质微结构完整性与多动症儿童情绪失调的相关性：扩散成像纤维束成像研究

背景

情绪失调 (ED) 在患有注意力缺陷多动障碍 (ADHD) 的青少年中普遍存在，并导致更多的社交障碍和适应功能差。白质 (WM) 束完整性的改变可能对与 ED 相关的情感处理具有重要意义。然而，关于支持 ADHD 中 ED 的 WM 相关性知之甚少。

方法

使用扩散光谱图像纤维束成像，我们获得了 77 名 ADHD 儿童和 105 名典型发育对照 (TDC) 的 76 个 WM 束的广义分数各向异性 (GFA) 值。ED 严重程度由儿童行为检查表中的失调概况定义。进行典型相关分析 (CCA) 以确定将 WM 微结构特性与 ED 严重程度和认知测量相关的模式。

结果

CCA 的应用确定了 WM 属性模式与诊断、ADHD 总症状水平、诊断交互失​​调和全面智商 (FIQ) 之间相互依赖的一种重要模式 ( r  = 0.638，FWE 校正p = 0.046)。与情感处理、感觉处理和整合以及认知控制电路相关的 19 个 WM 束的 GFA 值与 TDC 中的 ED 严重程度呈正相关，但与 ADHD 中的 ED 严重程度呈负相关。ADHD 症状严重程度和诊断与这组束束的 GFA 模式呈负相关。相比之下，FIQ 与这组束束呈正相关。

结论

本研究使用 CCA 表明患有 ADHD 和 TDC 的儿童在 ED 严重程度（通过 ED 相互作用进行诊断）和一组 WM 束的微观结构特性之间具有明显的多变量关联。这些束将主要参与多个大脑系统中的情绪处理、整合和认知控制的皮层区域相互连接。WM 微结构完整性损害可能是 ADHD 情绪失调的重要相关因素。