Poster No:
368
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Sikoya Ashburn1, Nicholas Fogleman1, Jessica Cohen1
Institutions:
1University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Introduction:
Emotion dysregulation (ED) is the inability to exercise any or all modulatory processes involved in emotion regulation to such a degree that it results in impaired emotional functioning (Bunford, Evans, and Wymbs 2015). ED is often associated with Attention Hyperactivity Deficit Disorder (ADHD), a neurodevelopmental disorder traditionally characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity (Wehmeier, Schacht, and Barkley 2010). As measured by grey matter volume (GMV), neuroimaging studies have identified altered brain structure in children with ADHD, including increased GMV in bilateral frontal regions (Wu et al. 2019) and reduced GMV in posterior cortical regions and the cerebellum (Stoodley 2014). However, studies have yet to examine the relationship between GMV, ED and ADHD. Thus, we examined: (i) behavioral measures of ED in children with ADHD relative to typically developing (TD) children; (ii) the relationship between cortical and cerebellar GMV and ED measures; and (iii) whether differences in GMV are associated with ED when comparing children with ADHD to TD children.
Methods:
We included a total of 54 children (26 TD children and 28 children with ADHD) between the ages of 8 and 12 years. Parents of all children completed the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version IV (Shaffer et al. 2000) and Conners 3rd Edition (Conners 2008) to assess ADHD and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach and Rescorla 2001) and Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC; Shields and Cicchetti 1997) to assess ED. T1-weighted images were reoriented to the anterior commissure, co-registered, and segmented (grey matter, white matter, and CSF). We then normalized our study specific DARTEL template to MNI space. CAT12 was used to calculate total intracranial volume (TIV) and to check for noise outliers. For each ED measure, we performed a one-way t-test with ED as a covariate of interest and TIV as a covariate of no interest to test the influence of ED on GMV. Next, we performed a two-sample t-test, dummy coding for group to test for effects of ED with respect to between-group differences in GMV. Lastly, we repeated these analyses on data processed through SUIT for cerebellar optimization.
Results:
Children with ADHD were rated as exhibiting significantly higher ED on both the CBCL and ERC, indicating greater ED relative to TD children. Across all children, whole-brain analysis revealed that increased GMV in left inferior temporal gyrus and left subcallosal cortex, and decreased GMV in left middle frontal cortex, was associated with greater ED; these regions were consistent across both the CBCL and ERC. Additionally, greater ED, as assessed by the CBCL, was associated with increased GMV in right supramarginal gyrus and decreased GMV in left superior parietal lobule, cingulate gyrus, and right middle temporal gyrus. ED, as assessed by the ERC, was associated with decreased GMV in left postcentral and right cuneal gyri. When comparing between groups (TD > ADHD), we observed decreased GMV in children with ADHD in the left supramarginal gyrus (CBCL) and left insular cortex (ERC). Significant findings were not observed in the opposite comparison (ADHD > TD) or between cerebellar GMV and ED for either the one-way or between-group analyses.
Conclusions:
Our study reinforces extant literature indicating that children with ADHD exhibit greater difficulties regulating their emotions relative to TD children, and demonstrates that cortical GMV is associated with ED in children. Additionally, several regions identified have been implicated in the emotion regulation process (Laxton et al. 2013), and are known to have connections with cortical regions important for positive emotion regulation strategies (Scharnowski et al. 2020). In total, our study provides evidence of structural alterations associated with ED in children with ADHD and TD children.
Disorders of the Nervous System:
Neurodevelopmental/ Early Life (eg. ADHD, autism) 1
Emotion, Motivation and Social Neuroscience:
Emotion and Motivation Other 2
Higher Cognitive Functions:
Higher Cognitive Functions Other
Lifespan Development:
Early life, Adolescence, Aging
Neuroanatomy, Physiology, Metabolism and Neurotransmission:
Neuroanatomy Other
Keywords:
Attention Deficit Disorder
Cerebellum
Cognition
Development
Emotions
PEDIATRIC
Other - Structure - Grey Matter
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Provide references using author date format
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Conners, C.K. (2008), Conners 3. North Tonawanda, NY: Multi-Health Systems, Inc.
Laxton, A.W. et al., (2013), “Neuronal Coding of Implicit Emotion Categories in the Subcallosal Cortex in Patients with Depression.” Biological Psychiatry 74 (10): 714–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.03.029.
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