Abstract #2319

Abnormalities in the Microstructure of the Fronto-Striatal Fiber Pathways in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Preliminary Results using Diffusion Spectrum Imaging Tractography

Yi-Huan Wu¹, Yu-Chun Lo², Shur-Fen Susan Gau³, Wen-Yih Isaac Tseng^4,5

¹School of Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan; ²Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; ³Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital & College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan; ⁴Department of Medical Imaging, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; ⁵Center for Optoelectronic Biomedicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most commonly diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood. Deficits in neural circuits linking regions of the prefrontal cortex and the striatum (caudate nucleus and putamen) have been postulated to account for the core symptoms in ADHD. Using diffusion spectrum imaging, we found that children with ADHD had lower generalized fractional anisotropy of the fronto-striatal fibers compared with healthy children. This finding implies a disruption in the normal pattern of structural and functional connectivity in fronto-striatal brain regions in children with ADHD.