Multivariate associations between behavioural dimensions and white matter across children and adolescents with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Xuan Bu; Yingxue Gao; Kaili Liang; Weijie Bao; Ying Chen; Lanting Guo; Qiyong Gong; Hanzhang Lu; Brian Caffo; Susumu Mori; Xiaoqi Huang

doi:10.1111/jcpp.13689

Multivariate associations between behavioural dimensions and white matter across children and adolescents with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2023 Feb;64(2):244-253. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13689. Epub 2022 Aug 24.

Authors

Xuan Bu^{1

2

3}, Yingxue Gao^{1

2}, Kaili Liang^{1

2}, Weijie Bao^{1

2}, Ying Chen^{1

2}, Lanting Guo⁴, Qiyong Gong^{1

2

5}, Hanzhang Lu³, Brian Caffo⁶, Susumu Mori³, Xiaoqi Huang^{1

2

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Huaxi MR Research Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
² Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, China.
³ The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
⁵ Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China.
⁶ Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Abstract

Background: Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder. Integrity of white matter microstructure plays a key role in the neural mechanism of ADHD presentations. However, the relationships between specific behavioural dimensions and white matter microstructure are less well known. This study aimed to identify associations between white matter and a broad set of clinical features across children and adolescent with and without ADHD using a data-driven multivariate approach.

Method: We recruited a total of 130 children (62 controls and 68 ADHD) and employed regularized generalized canonical correlation analysis to characterize the associations between white matter and a comprehensive set of clinical measures covering three domains, including symptom, cognition and behaviour. We further applied linear discriminant analysis to integrate these associations to explore potential developmental effects.

Results: We delineated two brain-behaviour dimensional associations in each domain resulting a total of six multivariate patterns of white matter microstructural alterations linked to hyperactivity-impulsivity and mild affected; executive functions and working memory; externalizing behaviour and social withdrawal, respectively. Apart from executive function and externalizing behaviour sharing similar white matter patterns, all other dimensions linked to a specific pattern of white matter microstructural alterations. The multivariate dimensional association scores showed an overall increase and normalization with age in ADHD group while remained stable in controls.

Conclusions: We found multivariate neurobehavioral associations exist across ADHD and controls, which suggested that multiple white matter patterns underlie ADHD heterogeneity and provided neural bases for more precise diagnosis and individualized treatment.

Keywords: ADHD; magnetic resonance imaging; multivariate analysis; paediatrics.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity*
Brain
Child
Cognition
Executive Function
Humans
White Matter* / diagnostic imaging

Grants and funding

R01 EB029977/EB/NIBIB NIH HHS/United States