Abnormal anatomical connectivity between the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex in conduct disorder
Abnormal anatomical connectivity between the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex in conduct disorder
Objective: previous research suggested that structural and functional abnormalities within the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex contribute to the pathophysiology of Conduct Disorder (CD). Here, we investigated whether the integrity of the white-matter pathways connecting these regions is abnormal and thus may represent a putative neurobiological marker for CD.
Methods: diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) was used to investigate white-matter microstructural integrity in male adolescents with childhood-onset CD, compared with healthy controls matched in age, sex, intelligence, and socioeconomic status. Two approaches were employed to analyze DTI data: voxel-based morphometry of fractional anisotropy (FA), an index of white-matter integrity, and virtual dissection of white-matter pathways using tractography.
Results: adolescents with CD displayed higher FA within the right external capsule relative to controls (T?=?6.08, P<0.05, Family-Wise Error, whole-brain correction). Tractography analyses showed that FA values within the uncinate fascicle (connecting the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex) were abnormally increased in individuals with CD relative to controls. This was in contrast with the inferior frontal-occipital fascicle, which showed no significant group differences in FA. The finding of increased FA in the uncinate fascicle remained significant when factoring out the contribution of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms. There were no group differences in the number of streamlines in either of these anatomical tracts.
Conclusions: these results provide evidence that CD is associated with white-matter microstructural abnormalities in the anatomical tract that connects the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex, the uncinate fascicle. These results implicate abnormal maturation of white-matter pathways which are fundamental in the regulation of emotional behavior in CD
e48789
Passamonti, Luca
71e1cf10-463b-45f0-acc2-0d74459d9f20
Fairchild, Graeme
f99bc911-978e-48c2-9754-c6460666a95f
Fornito, Alex
b995947f-016f-4e75-8985-00d149322501
Goodyer, Ian
d8750313-5d41-4f80-8f47-c90007cbf469
Nimmo-Smith, Ian
4ba1768f-687e-4356-ae12-f85a89c0e8d9
Hagan, Cindy
b6dd6664-a926-4fe8-afce-5dcf8335ac5d
Calder, Andrew
4981a9bf-43f0-484a-8dfd-e8d8981de0d8
November 2012
Passamonti, Luca
71e1cf10-463b-45f0-acc2-0d74459d9f20
Fairchild, Graeme
f99bc911-978e-48c2-9754-c6460666a95f
Fornito, Alex
b995947f-016f-4e75-8985-00d149322501
Goodyer, Ian
d8750313-5d41-4f80-8f47-c90007cbf469
Nimmo-Smith, Ian
4ba1768f-687e-4356-ae12-f85a89c0e8d9
Hagan, Cindy
b6dd6664-a926-4fe8-afce-5dcf8335ac5d
Calder, Andrew
4981a9bf-43f0-484a-8dfd-e8d8981de0d8
Passamonti, Luca, Fairchild, Graeme, Fornito, Alex, Goodyer, Ian, Nimmo-Smith, Ian, Hagan, Cindy and Calder, Andrew
(2012)
Abnormal anatomical connectivity between the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex in conduct disorder.
PLoS ONE, 7 (11), .
(doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0048789).
(PMID:23144970)
Abstract
Objective: previous research suggested that structural and functional abnormalities within the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex contribute to the pathophysiology of Conduct Disorder (CD). Here, we investigated whether the integrity of the white-matter pathways connecting these regions is abnormal and thus may represent a putative neurobiological marker for CD.
Methods: diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) was used to investigate white-matter microstructural integrity in male adolescents with childhood-onset CD, compared with healthy controls matched in age, sex, intelligence, and socioeconomic status. Two approaches were employed to analyze DTI data: voxel-based morphometry of fractional anisotropy (FA), an index of white-matter integrity, and virtual dissection of white-matter pathways using tractography.
Results: adolescents with CD displayed higher FA within the right external capsule relative to controls (T?=?6.08, P<0.05, Family-Wise Error, whole-brain correction). Tractography analyses showed that FA values within the uncinate fascicle (connecting the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex) were abnormally increased in individuals with CD relative to controls. This was in contrast with the inferior frontal-occipital fascicle, which showed no significant group differences in FA. The finding of increased FA in the uncinate fascicle remained significant when factoring out the contribution of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms. There were no group differences in the number of streamlines in either of these anatomical tracts.
Conclusions: these results provide evidence that CD is associated with white-matter microstructural abnormalities in the anatomical tract that connects the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex, the uncinate fascicle. These results implicate abnormal maturation of white-matter pathways which are fundamental in the regulation of emotional behavior in CD
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Published date: November 2012
Organisations:
Psychology
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Local EPrints ID: 346485
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/346485
ISSN: 1932-6203
PURE UUID: d7538309-23be-437b-9ce4-719286647e10
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Date deposited: 03 Jan 2013 14:58
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 12:37
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Contributors
Author:
Luca Passamonti
Author:
Graeme Fairchild
Author:
Alex Fornito
Author:
Ian Goodyer
Author:
Ian Nimmo-Smith
Author:
Cindy Hagan
Author:
Andrew Calder
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