Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder occurring in 5–6% of school-aged children. Converging evidence suggests that dysfunction within cortico-striatal and cortico-cerebellar networks may contribute to motor deficits in DCD, yet limited research has examined the brain morphology of these regions. Using T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging the current study investigated cortical and subcortical volumes in 37 children with DCD, aged 8 to 12 years, and 48 controls of a similar age. Regional brain volumes of the thalamus, basal ganglia, cerebellum and primary motor and sensory cortices were extracted using the FreeSurfer recon-all pipeline and compared between groups. Reduced volumes within both the left and right pallidum (Left: F = 4.43, p = 0.039; Right: F = 5.24, p = 0.025) were observed in children with DCD; however, these results did not withstand correction for multiple comparisons. These findings provide preliminary evidence of altered subcortical brain structure in DCD. Future studies that examine the morphology of these subcortical regions are highly encouraged in order replicate these findings.

发育协调障碍 (DCD) 是一种神经发育障碍，发生在 5-6% 的学龄儿童中。越来越多的证据表明，皮质-纹状体和皮质-小脑网络中的功能障碍可能导致 DCD 的运动缺陷，但有限的研究检查了这些区域的大脑形态。目前的研究使用 T1 加权磁共振成像调查了 37 名 8 至 12 岁的 DCD 儿童和 48 名年龄相近的对照者的皮质和皮质下体积。使用 FreeSurfer recon-all 管道提取丘脑、基底神经节、小脑和初级运动和感觉皮层的区域脑容量，并在组间进行比较。左右苍白球内的体积减少（左：F = 4.43，p  = 0.039；右：F = 5.24，p  = 0.025）在 DCD 儿童中观察到；然而，这些结果经不起多重比较的校正。这些发现为 DCD 中皮层下脑结构改变提供了初步证据。强烈鼓励未来研究这些皮层下区域的形态，以便复制这些发现。