Reduced cortical surface area in adolescents with conduct disorder

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Abstract

Children with conduct disorder (CD) are at increased risk of developing antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy in adulthood. Neuroimaging research has identified abnormal cortical volume (CV) in CD. However, CV comprises two genetically and developmentally separable components: cortical thickness (CT) and surface area (SA). Aim of this study is to explore the relationship between the cortical constituents of CV in boys with CD. We applied FreeSurfer software to structural MRI data to derive measures of CV, CT, and SA in 21 boys with CD and 19 controls. Relationships between these cortical measures were investigated. Boys with CD had significantly reduced CV and SA compared to non-CD boys in ventromedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. We found no significant between-group differences in CT. Reduced prefrontal CV in boys with CD is associated with significantly reduced SA in the same regions. This finding may help to identify specific neurodevelopmental mechanisms underlying cortical deficits observed in CD.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)909-917
Number of pages9
JournalEuropean Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Volume24
Issue number8
Early online date7 Dec 2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2015

Keywords

  • Brain anatomy
  • Conduct disorder
  • Cortical thickness
  • Cortical volume
  • Surface area
  • Surface based morphometry

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