White Matter Microstructure in Youths With Conduct Disorder: Effects of Sex and Variation in Callous Traits

Jack C Rogers; Karen Gonzalez-Madruga; Gregor Kohls; Rosalind H Baker; Roberta L Clanton; Ruth Pauli; Philippa Birch; Alimul I Chowdhury; Marietta Kirchner; Jesper L R Andersson; Areti Smaragdi; Ignazio Puzzo; Sarah Baumann; Nora M Raschle; Lynn V Fehlbaum; Willeke M Menks; Martin Steppan; Christina Stadler; Kerstin Konrad; Christine M Freitag; Graeme Fairchild; Stephane A De Brito

doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2019.02.019

White Matter Microstructure in Youths With Conduct Disorder: Effects of Sex and Variation in Callous Traits

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2019 Dec;58(12):1184-1196. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2019.02.019. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Authors

Jack C Rogers¹, Karen Gonzalez-Madruga², Gregor Kohls³, Rosalind H Baker⁴, Roberta L Clanton⁴, Ruth Pauli⁴, Philippa Birch⁴, Alimul I Chowdhury⁵, Marietta Kirchner⁶, Jesper L R Andersson⁷, Areti Smaragdi², Ignazio Puzzo², Sarah Baumann³, Nora M Raschle⁸, Lynn V Fehlbaum⁸, Willeke M Menks⁸, Martin Steppan⁸, Christina Stadler⁸, Kerstin Konrad³, Christine M Freitag⁹, Graeme Fairchild¹⁰, Stephane A De Brito¹¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, UK. Electronic address: j.rogers@bham.ac.uk.
² University of Southampton, UK.
³ Child Neuropsychology Section, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Germany.
⁴ School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, UK.
⁵ School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, UK; Medical Physics Department, University Hospitals Birmingham, NHS Foundation Trust, UK.
⁶ Institute of Medical Biometry and Informatics, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
⁷ FMRIB, University of Oxford, UK.
⁸ University of Basel, Switzerland.
⁹ University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
¹⁰ University of Southampton, UK; University of Bath, UK.
¹¹ School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, UK. Electronic address: s.a.debrito@bham.ac.uk.

PMID: 31028899
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2019.02.019

Abstract

Objective: Studies using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate white matter (WM) microstructure in youths with conduct disorder (CD) have reported disparate findings. We investigated WM alterations in a large sample of youths with CD, and examined the influence of sex and callous-unemotional (CU) traits.

Method: DTI data were acquired from 124 youths with CD (59 female) and 174 typically developing (TD) youths (103 female) 9 to 18 years of age. Tract-based spatial statistics tested for effects of diagnosis and sex-by-diagnosis interactions. Associations with CD symptoms, CU traits, a task measuring impulsivity, and the impact of comorbidity, and age- and puberty-related effects were examined.

Results: Youths with CD exhibited higher axial diffusivity in the corpus callosum and lower radial diffusivity and mean diffusivity in the anterior thalamic radiation relative to TD youths. Female and male youths with CD exhibited opposite changes in the left hemisphere within the internal capsule, fornix, posterior thalamic radiation, and uncinate fasciculus. Within the CD group, CD symptoms and callous traits exerted opposing influences on corpus callosum axial diffusivity, with callous traits identified as the unique clinical feature predicting higher axial diffusivity and lower radial diffusivity within the corpus callosum and anterior thalamic radiation, respectively. In an exploratory analysis, corpus callosum axial diffusivity partially mediated the association between callous traits and impulsive responses to emotional faces. Results were not influenced by symptoms of comorbid disorders, and no age- or puberty-related interactions were observed.

Conclusion: WM alterations within the corpus callosum represent a reliable neuroimaging marker of CD. Sex and callous traits are important factors to consider when examining WM in CD.

Keywords: FemNAT-CD; callous-unemotional traits; conduct disorder; diffusion tensor imaging (DTI); sex differences.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Child
Conduct Disorder / diagnostic imaging
Conduct Disorder / pathology*
Conduct Disorder / physiopathology*
Corpus Callosum / diagnostic imaging
Corpus Callosum / pathology*
Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Emotions*
Europe
Female
Humans
Male
Sex Characteristics
White Matter / diagnostic imaging
White Matter / pathology*