Cingulum-Callosal white-matter microstructure associated with emotional dysregulation in children: A diffusion tensor imaging study

• Published in: NeuroImage clinical Vol. 27; p. 102266
• Main Authors: Hung, Yuwen, Uchida, Mai, Gaillard, Schuyler L., Woodworth, Hilary, Kelberman, Caroline, Capella, James, Kadlec, Kelly, Goncalves, Mathias, Ghosh, Satrajit, Yendiki, Anastasia, Chai, Xiaoqian J., Hirshfeld-Becker, Dina R., Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan, Gabrieli, John D.E., Biederman, Joseph
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Inc 01.01.2020; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Anisotropy; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - physiology; Child; Cingulum; Corpus callosum; Corpus Callosum - diagnostic imaging; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Diffusion Tensor Imaging - methods; Emotional dysregulation; Emotions - physiology; Female; Humans; Limbic system; Male; Mood disorders; Nerve Net - diagnostic imaging; Nerve Net - physiology; Regular; White Matter - diagnostic imaging; Emotional dysregulation; Mood disorders; Limbic system; Cingulum; Corpus callosum
• ISSN: 2213-1582; 2213-1582
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2020.102266

•Emotional dysregulation is related to differences in cingulum-callosal microstructural integrity.•Emotional dysregulation is associated with increases in radial diffusivity and decreases in fractional anisotropy in cingulum-callosal bundles.•Cingulum-callosal bundles may be susceptibility neuromarkers for pediatric mood disorders. Emotional dysregulation symptoms in youth frequently predispose individuals to increased risk for mood disorders and other mental health difficulties. These symptoms are also known as a behavioral risk marker in predicting pediatric mood disorders. The underlying neural mechanism of emotional dysregulation, however, remains unclear. This study used the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) technique to identify anatomically specific variation in white-matter microstructure that is associated with pediatric emotional dysregulation severity. Thirty-two children (mean age 9.53 years) with varying levels of emotional dysregulation symptoms were recruited by the Massachusetts General Hospital and underwent the DTI scans at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Emotional dysregulation severity was measured by the empirically-derived Child Behavior Checklist Emotional Dysregulation Profile that includes the Attention, Aggression, and Anxiety/Depression subscales. Whole-brain voxel-wise regression tests revealed significantly increased radial diffusivity (RD) and decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) in the cingulum-callosal regions linked to greater emotional dysregulation in the children. The results suggest that microstructural differences in cingulum-callosal white-matter pathways may manifest as a neurodevelopmental vulnerability for pediatric mood disorders as implicated in the clinical phenotype of pediatric emotional dysregulation. These findings may offer clinically and biologically relevant neural targets for early identification and prevention efforts for pediatric mood disorders.