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Abnormal Fronto-striatal Connectivity in Children with Histories of Early Deprivation: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study

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Abstract

An Inattentive/Overactive (I/O) behavioral phenotype has been reported in a significant percentage of children raised from birth in orphanages. While a number of studies have identified both functional and structural brain abnormalities in children raised from birth in orphanages, no published studies have evaluated potential neural correlates of the I/O phenotype. We applied diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to 15 pre-teen children raised in orphanages in Eastern Europe or Asia and later adopted to the US. Fiber tracts were constructed from DTI data using probabilistic fiber tracking and the cortical fiber distribution of fibers originating from the head of the caudate was compared between the early deprivation (ED) group and 12 age-matched controls. The ED group showed a more diffuse connectivity pattern, especially in the right hemisphere, potentially related to incomplete neuronal pruning during development. These structural abnormalities may be associated with inattention and overactivity encountered in children with ED.

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Acknowledgements

The project described was partially supported by Grant number K08MH079176 from the National Institute of Mental Health to the first author. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Mental Health or the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA

    Michael E. Behen, Otto Muzik, Anita S. D. Saporta, Benjamin J. Wilson & Harry T. Chugani

  2. Departments of Radiology, Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA

    Otto Muzik

  3. Departments of Neurology, Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA

    Michael E. Behen, Otto Muzik & Harry T. Chugani

  4. Department of Computer Science, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

    Darshan Pai & Jing Hua

  5. PET Center, Children’s Hospital of Michigan, 3901 Beaubien Blvd, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA

    Otto Muzik

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  1. Michael E. Behen
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  2. Otto Muzik
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  3. Anita S. D. Saporta
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  4. Benjamin J. Wilson
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  5. Darshan Pai
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  6. Jing Hua
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  7. Harry T. Chugani
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Correspondence to Otto Muzik.

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Behen, M.E., Muzik, O., Saporta, A.S.D. et al. Abnormal Fronto-striatal Connectivity in Children with Histories of Early Deprivation: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study. Brain Imaging and Behavior 3, 292–297 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-009-9071-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-009-9071-6

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