Cerebellar development in childhood onset schizophrenia and non-psychotic siblings.

We explored regional and total volumetric cerebellar differences in probands and their unaffected full siblings relative to typically developing participants. Participants included 94 (51 males) patients diagnosed with childhood onset schizophrenia (COS), 80 related non-psychotic siblings (37 males) and 110 (64 males) typically developing participants scanned longitudinally. The sample mean age was 16.87(S.D.=4.7; range 6.5 to 29). We performed mixed model regressions to examine group differences in trajectory and volume. The COS group had smaller bilateral anterior lobes and anterior and total vermis volumes than controls. The COS group diverged from controls over time in total, left, right, and bilateral posterior inferior cerebellum. Siblings did not have any fixed volumetric differences relative to controls but differed from controls in developmental trajectories of total and right cerebellum, left inferior posterior, left superior posterior, and superior vermis. Results are consistent with previous COS findings and several reports of decreased cerebellar volume in adult onset schizophrenia. Sibling trajectories may represent a trait marker, although the effect size for volumetric differences in early adulthood may be small.

Quantitative brain magnetic resonance imaging in girls with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

BACKGROUND: Anatomic studies of boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have detected decreased volumes in total and frontal brain, basal ganglia, and cerebellar vermis. We tested these findings in a sample of girls with ADHD. METHODS: Anatomic brain magnetic resonance images from 50 girls with ADHD, of severity comparable with that in previously studied boys, and 50 healthy female control subjects, aged 5 to 15 years, were obtained with a 1.5-T scanner with contiguous 2-mm coronal slices and 1.5-mm axial slices. We measured volumes of total cerebrum, frontal lobes, caudate nucleus, globus pallidus, cerebellum, and cerebellar vermis. Behavioral measures included structured psychiatric interviews, parent and teacher ratings, and the Wechsler vocabulary and block design subtests. RESULTS: Total brain volume was smaller in girls with ADHD than in control subjects (effect size, 0.40; P =.05). As in our previous study in boys with ADHD, girls with ADHD had significantly smaller volumes in the posterior-inferior cerebellar vermis (lobules VIII-X; effect size, 0.54; P =.04), even when adjusted for total cerebral volume and vocabulary score. Patients and controls did not differ in asymmetry in any region. Morphometric differences correlated significantly with several ratings of ADHD severity and were not predicted by past or present stimulant drug exposure. CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm previous findings for boys in the posterior-inferior lobules of the cerebellar vermis. The influence of the cerebellar vermis on prefrontal and striatal circuitry should be explored.

Childhood-onset psychotic disorders: magnetic resonance imaging of volumetric differences in brain structure.

OBJECTIVE: Although childhood-onset schizophrenia is rare, children with brief psychotic symptoms and prominent emotional disturbances commonly present diagnostic and treatment problems. Quantitative anatomic brain magnetic resonance images (MRIs) of a subgroup of children with psychotic disorder not otherwise specified were compared with those of children with childhood-onset schizophrenia and healthy comparison subjects. METHOD: Anatomic MRIs were obtained for 71 patients (44 with childhood-onset schizophrenia and 27 with psychotic disorder not otherwise specified) and 106 healthy volunteers. Most patients had been treated with neuroleptics. Volumetric measurements for the cerebrum, anterior frontal region, lateral ventricles, corpus callosum, caudate, putamen, globus pallidus, and midsagittal thalamic area were obtained. RESULTS: Patients had a smaller total cerebral volume than healthy comparison subjects. Analysis of covariance for total cerebral volume and age found that lateral ventricles were larger in both patient groups than in healthy comparison subjects and that schizophrenia patients had a smaller midsagittal thalamic area than both subjects with psychotic disorder not otherwise specified and healthy comparison subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric patients with psychotic disorder not otherwise specified showed a pattern of brain volumes similar to those found in childhood-onset schizophrenia. Neither group showed a decrease in volumes of temporal lobe structures. Prospective longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging and clinical follow-up studies of both groups are currently underway to further validate the distinction between these two disorders.

Childhood-onset schizophrenia: progressive brain changes during adolescence.

BACKGROUND: Previous NIMH childhood onset schizophrenia (COS) anatomic brain MRI studies found progression of ventricular volume and other structural brain anomalies at 2-year follow up across mean ages 14 to 16 years. However, studies in adult patients generally do not show progression of ventricular volume or correlation of ventricular volume with duration of illness. To address issues of progression of brain anomalies in schizophrenia, this report extends previous studies to include a third longitudinal scan, uses a larger sample size, and includes measures of the amygdala and hippocampus. METHODS: Volumes of the total cerebrum, lateral ventricles, hippocampus, and amygdala were quantified on 208 brain magnetic resonance imaging scans from 42 adolescents with COS (23 with one or more repeat scan) and 74 age- and gender-matched controls (36 with one or more repeat scan). A statistical technique permitting combined use of cross-sectional and longitudinal data was used to assess age-related changes, linearity, and diagnostic group differences. RESULTS: Differential nonlinear progression of brain anomalies was seen during adolescence with the total cerebrum and hippocampus decreasing and lateral ventricles increasing in the COS group. The developmental curves for these structures reached an asymptote by early adulthood for the COS group and did not significantly change with age in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: These findings reconcile less striking progression of anatomic brain images usually seen for adult schizophrenia and complement other data consistent with time-limited, diagnostic-specific decreases in brain tissue. Adolescence appears to be a unique period of differential brain development in schizophrenia.

Development of the human corpus callosum during childhood and adolescence: a longitudinal MRI study.

1. Interest in the morphologic development of the corpus callosum (CC) during childhood and adolescence stems from adolescent changes in cognitive functions subserved by the CC, reports of CC anomalies for a wide variety of childhood neuropsychiatric illnesses, and controversy regarding sexual dimorphism. 2. Characterization of the normal developmental pattern of the CC is hindered by enormous variability of its size. This is especially problematic for cross-sectional studies seeking to assess possible non-linear developmental curves. 3. To more accurately characterize developmental changes, a longitudinal brain magnetic resonance imaging study with subjects rescanned at approximately 2 year intervals was conducted resulting in 251 scans from 139 healthy children and adolescents. 4. Midsagittal area of the CC, especially the posterior regions, increased robustly from ages 5 to 18 years. 5. Although the genu of the CC was significantly larger in males there were no sex differences in mean area after adjustment for total cerebral volume and the growth patterns did not differ between sexes. 6. Analysis revealed a non-linear increase in the splenium, the most posterior region, with increases greatest in the younger years. 7. The results of this longitudinal study, in addition to confirming and extending previous cross-sectional reports, provide an increasingly accurate yardstick from which to assess pathological development.

Progressive reduction of temporal lobe structures in childhood-onset schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: A previous cross-sectional study of brain morphology in childhood-onset schizophrenia indicated sparing of the temporal lobes from processes reducing total cerebral volume in this population. In the present study, subjects with childhood-onset schizophrenia and healthy subjects were rescanned at 2-year follow-up to determine whether this pattern of temporal lobe sparing persists with ongoing illness. METHOD: Anatomic brain magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired for 10 adolescent patients with average onset of schizophrenia at 10.4 years (SD = 1.7) and 17 healthy adolescents. Scans were obtained on initial admission and at 2-year follow-up by using identical equipment and measurement methodology. RESULTS: Schizophrenic subjects showed significantly greater decreases than healthy subjects in right temporal lobe, bilateral superior temporal gyrus and posterior superior temporal gyrus, right anterior superior temporal gyrus, and left hippocampal volumes during the follow-up interval. Decline in right posterior superior temporal gyrus was associated with high total scores on the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms at baseline and at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Progressive reduction of temporal lobe structures occurs with ongoing illness in childhood-onset schizophrenia.

Variability of human brain structure size: ages 4-20 years.

Understanding variability of human brain structure sizes during development is important for the design and interpretation of pediatric neuroimaging studies. In this study we analyze the effects of hemisphere, sex and age on size variability of the total cerebrum, cerebellum, lateral ventricles, temporal lobe, amygdala, hippocampus, superior temporal gyrus, corpus callosum, caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus in 115 healthy children and adolescents, ages 4-20 years. Variability differed significantly across structures, with the lateral ventricles demonstrating the highest coefficient of variation and the putamen the lowest. Males varied significantly more than females in the left cerebrum and left superior temporal gyrus, whereas females varied more than males in the right caudate and right putamen. Age effects were seen in increased variability after puberty for the lateral ventricles, hippocampus and superior temporal gyrus. These variances are important determinants of minimum sample sizes required to detect group differences in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies.

Implication of right frontostriatal circuitry in response inhibition and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relation between specific frontostriatal structures (prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia) and response inhibition deficits observed in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). METHOD: Children with ADHD and age-matched normal controls were scanned using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and tested on three response inhibition tasks. Behavioral performance was correlated with MRI-based anatomical measures of frontostriatal circuitry (prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia) implicated in ADHD. RESULTS: First, significant differences in performance by children with ADHD and normal volunteers were observed on all three response inhibition tasks. Second, performance on these tasks correlated only with those anatomical measures of frontostriatal circuitry observed to be abnormal in children with ADHD (e.g., the region of the prefrontal cortex, caudate, and globus pallidus, but not the putamen) in the authors' previous study. Third, significant correlations between task performance and anatomical measures of the prefrontal cortex and caudate nuclei were predominantly in the right hemisphere, supporting a role of right frontostriatal circuitry in response inhibition and ADHD. CONCLUSION: The data suggest a role of the right prefrontal cortex in suppressing responses to salient, but otherwise irrelevant events while the basal ganglia appear to be involved in executing these behavioral responses.

Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging of the corpus callosum in childhood onset schizophrenia.

Corpus callosum size has been found to be abnormal in adult schizophrenia, and other studies have implicated abnormal interhemispheric communication in this disorder. To assess continuity with brain abnormalities in the later onset disorder and to further localize brain maldevelopment, this structure was examined in a unique sample of childhood onset schizophrenics. Anatomic brain magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired for 25 patients (mean age 13.9 +/- 2.1) who had onset of schizophrenia by age 12 (mean age at onset 9.9 +/- 1.9) and 55 normal children. The midsagittal area of the corpus callosum was divided into seven sections. With no adjustment for brain volume, no diagnostic differences were observed. After adjustment for the smaller cerebral volume of the schizophrenics, larger total, anterior and posterior corpus callosum areas emerged for the schizophrenics. These findings provide further evidence for continuity between childhood onset and later onset schizophrenia and support other studies showing white matter sparing in the context of decreased cortical volume.

Cerebral glucose metabolism in childhood onset schizophrenia.

Decreased frontal cortical glucose metabolism has been demonstrated in adult schizophrenics both at rest and while engaging in tasks that normally increase frontal metabolism, such as the Continuous Performance Test (CPT). The authors tested the hypothesis that adolescents with childhood onset schizophrenia would also demonstrate hypofrontality while performing the CPT. Cerebral glucose metabolism was examined in 16 adolescents (mean age 14.1 +/- 1.7) with onset of schizophrenia by age 12 (mean age at onset 9.9 +/- 1.8) and 26 healthy adolescents selected to be similar in age, sex and handedness using positron emission tomography and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose. Patients with childhood onset schizophrenia made fewer correct and more incorrect identifications on the CPT. Region of interest analysis revealed no significant group differences in global cerebral glucose metabolism, but increased metabolic rate in supramarginal gyrus (F = 6.74, P < 0.05) and inferior frontal gyrus/insula (F = 7.09, P < 0.05) and decreased metabolic rate in middle frontal gyrus (F = 6.72, P < 0.05) and superior frontal gyrus (t = 2.04, P < 0.05) in schizophrenics. Comparison of effect sizes with an identically designed study of adult schizophrenics did not indicate more severe hypofrontality in childhood onset schizophrenia. Pixel-based analyses indicated a more complex pattern of group differences in cerebral metabolism with bilaterally increased cerebellar metabolic rate in childhood onset schizophrenics. These findings suggest that childhood onset schizophrenia may be associated with a similar, but not more severe, degree of hypofrontality relative to that seen in adult onset schizophrenia.

Sexual dimorphism of the developing human brain.

1. Sexual dimorphism of human brain anatomy has not been well-studied between 4 and 18 years of age, a time of emerging sex differences in behavior and the sexually specific hormonal changes of adrenarche (the predominantly androgenic augmentation of adrenal cortex function occurring at approximately age 8) and puberty. 2. To assess sex differences in brain structures during this developmental period volumes of the cerebrum, lateral ventricles, caudate, putamen, globus pallidus temporal lobe, amygdala, and hippocampus, and midsagittal area measurements of the corpus callosum were quantified from brain magnetic resonance images of 121 healthy children and adolescent and examined in relation to age and sex. 3. Males had a 9% larger cerebral volume. When adjusted for cerebral volume by ANCOVA only the basal ganglia demonstrated sex differences in mean volume with the caudate being relatively larger in females and the globus pallidus being relatively larger in males. The lateral ventricles demonstrated a prominent sex difference in brain maturation with robust increases in size in males only. A piecewise-linear model revealed a significant change in the linear regression slope of lateral ventricular volume in males after age 11 that was not shared by females at that or other ages. 4. Amygdala and hippocampal volume increased for both sexes but with the amygdala increasing significantly more in males than females and hippocampal volume increasing more in females. 5. These sexually dimorphic patterns of brain development may be related to the observed sex differences in age of onset, prevalence, and symptomatology seen in nearly all neuropsychiatric disorders of childhood.

Regional MRI measurements of the corpus callosum: a methodological and developmental study.

A technique for quantifying the midsagittal size and shape of the corpus callosum (CC) from magnetic resonance brain scans is presented. The technique utilizes the distances to the ventral and dorsal boundaries of small sectors of the CC from a reference point to compute the size and shape parameters of the CC and its subdivisions. Intrarater and interrater interclass correlation coefficients for the area measurements ranged from 0.88 to 0.99. Correlations between these automated measures and those obtained by pixel counting were equally high. The corpus callosa of 104 (57 male and 47 female) right-handed healthy children and adolescents, ages 4-18, were examined in relation to age and sex. Corpus callosum growth was most striking for the splenium and isthmus with some changes in the midbody regions. The area and perimeter of these regions increased, shapes became more compact, and the boundaries became more regular with age. The length and curvature at the anterior and posterior regions of the CC increased more rapidly in males than in females. These significant and consistent results indicate that the method is reliable and sensitive to developmental changes of the CC.

Quantitative brain magnetic resonance imaging in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

BACKGROUND: Anatomic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been limited by small samples or measurement of single brain regions. Since the neuropsychological deficits in ADHD implicate a network linking basal ganglia and frontal regions, 12 subcortical and cortical regions and their symmetries were measured to determine if these structures best distinguished ADHD. METHODS: Anatomic brain MRIs for 57 boys with ADHD and 55 healthy matched controls, aged 5 to 18 years, were obtained using a 1.5-T scanner with contiguous 2-mm sections. Volumetric measures of the cerebrum, caudate nucleus, putamen, globus pallidus, amygdala, hippocampus, temporal lobe, cerebellum; a measure of prefrontal cortex; and related right-left asymmetries were examined along with midsagittal area measures of the cerebellum and corpus callosum. Interrater reliabilities were .82 or greater for all MRI measures. RESULTS: Subjects with ADHD had a 4.7% smaller total cerebral volume (P = .02). Analysis of covariance for total cerebral volume demonstrated a significant loss of normal right > left asymmetry in the caudate (P = .006), smaller right globus pallidus (P = .005), smaller right anterior frontal region (P = .02), smaller cerebellum (P = .05), and reversal of normal lateral ventricular asymmetry (P = .03) in the ADHD group. The normal age-related decrease in caudate volume was not seen, and increases in lateral ventricular volumes were significantly diminished in ADHD. CONCLUSION: This first comprehensive morphometric analysis is consistent with hypothesized dysfunction of right-sided prefrontal-striatal systems in ADHD.

Brain anatomic magnetic resonance imaging in childhood-onset schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Early-onset schizophrenia (first psychotic symptoms by age 12 years) has been the subject of a small number of studies, and its biological continuity with later-onset disorder has not been established. In this study quantitative anatomic brain magnetic resonance images of children and adolescents with early-onset schizophrenia were compared with those of matched controls. Brain abnormalities in childhood-onset schizophrenia were examined in relation to those reported for later-onset schizophrenics. METHODS: Anatomic brain magnetic resonance imaging scans were obtained for 21 patients (mean +/- SD age, 14.6 +/- 2.1 years; range, 10 to 18 years) with childhood-onset schizophrenia (13 males, eight females) and 33 age-, sex-, height-, and weight-matched normal controls. Quantitative measurements were obtained for the cerebrum, anterior frontal region, lateral ventricles, thalamus, caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus. RESULTS: Total cerebral volume and midsagittal thalamic area were smaller in the patients (analysis of variance, P = .002, and analysis of covariance, P = .03, respectively); the caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus were larger in the patients (analysis of covariance, P = .05, P = .007, and P < .001, respectively); and the lateral ventricles tended to be larger in the patients (analysis of covariance, P = .06). Globus pallidus enlargement correlated with neuroleptic exposure and with age of onset of psychosis. The magnitude of abnormalities compared with controls was similar to that reported in adult studies, although there was a trend toward relatively smaller cerebral volumes for the childhood-onset group compared with controls. CONCLUSION: Brain anatomic abnormalities in childhood-onset schizophrenia are similar to those reported for adult populations, indicating overall continuity between these rare childhood cases and the adult schizophrenia populations.

Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging of human brain development: ages 4-18.

Brain magnetic resonance images (MRI) of 104 healthy children and adolescents, age 4-18, showed significant effects of age and gender on brain morphometry. Males had larger cerebral (9%) and cerebellar (8%) volumes (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.008, respectively), which remained significant even after correction for height and weight. After adjusting for cerebral size, the putamen and globus pallidus remained larger in males, while relative caudate size was larger in females. Neither cerebral nor cerebellar volume changed significantly across this age range. Lateral ventricular volume increased significantly in males (trend for females), with males showing an increase in slope after age 11. In males only, caudate and putamen decrease with age (P = 0.007 and 0.05, respectively). The left lateral ventricles and putamen were significantly greater than the right (P = 0.01 and 0.001, respectively). In contrast, the cerebral hemispheres and caudate showed a highly consistent right-greater-than-left asymmetry (P < 0.0001 for both). All volumes demonstrated a high degree of variability. These findings highlight gender-specific maturational changes of the developing brain and the need for large gender-matched samples in pediatric neuropsychiatric studies.

Temporal lobe morphology in childhood-onset schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: Neurodevelopmental models of schizophrenia imply that a more severe early brain lesion may produce earlier onset of psychotic symptoms. The medial temporal lobes have been proposed as possible locations for such a lesion. The authors tested this hypothesis in a group of children and adolescents with childhood-onset schizophrenia who had severe, chronic symptoms and who were refractory to treatment with typical neuroleptics. METHOD: Anatomic brain magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired with a 1.5-T scanner for 21 patients (mean age=14.6 years, SD=2.1) who had onset of schizophrenia by age 12 (mean age at onset=10.2, SD=1.5) and 41 normal children. Volumes of the temporal lobe, superior temporal gyrus, amygdala, and hippocampus were measured by manually outlining these structures on contiguous 2-mm thick coronal slices. RESULTS: Patients with childhood-onset schizophrenia had significantly smaller cerebral volumes. With no adjustment for brain volume, no diagnostic differences were observed for any temporal lobe structure. Unexpectedly, with adjustment for total cerebral volume, larger volumes of the superior temporal gyrus and its posterior segment and a trend toward larger temporal lobe volume emerged for the patients with schizophrenia. These patients lacked the normal (right-greater-than-left) hippocampal asymmetry. CONCLUSIONS: These findings do not indicate a more severe medial temporal lobe lesion as the basis of very early onset schizophrenia.

Quantitative MRI of the temporal lobe, amygdala, and hippocampus in normal human development: ages 4-18 years.

The volume of the temporal lobe, superior temporal gyrus, amygdala, and hippocampus was quantified from magnetic images of the brains of 99 healthy children and adolescents aged 4-18 years. Variability in volume was high for all structures examined. When adjusted for a 9% larger total cerebral volume in males, there were no significant volume differences between sexes. However, sex-specific maturational changes were noted in the volumes of medial temporal structures, with the left amygdala increasing significantly only in males and with the right hippocampus increasing significantly only in females. Right-greater-than-left laterality effects were found for temporal lobe, superior temporal gyrus, amygdala, and hippocampal volumes. These results are consistent with previous preclinical and human studies that have indicated hormonal responsivity of these structures and extend quantitative morphologic findings from the adult literature. In addition to highlighting the need for large samples and sex-matched controls in pediatric neuroimaging studies, the information from this understudied age group may be of use in evaluating developmental hypotheses of neuropsychiatric disorders.

A quantitative MRI study of the corpus callosum in children and adolescents.

Total midsagittal area and seven subdivisions of the corpus callosum were measured on magnetic resonance images of 114 healthy boys and girls, aged 4 to 18. Striking variability of size was noted for all measures. Total midsagittal corpus callosum area increased in a robust and linear fashion from ages 4 to 18 (slope = 13.1 mm2/year, P = 0.0001 and slope = 11.1 mm2/year, P = 0.0001 for females and males, respectively). Posterior and mid regions demonstrated greater age-related changes than anterior regions with the rostrum and genu (anterior regions) having reached adult sizes in the youngest of our subjects. There were no significant effects of sex for any measures. These findings support anatomical studies indicating ongoing myelination of higher association areas throughout adolescence, but raise intriguing questions about anterior-posterior gradients of interhemispheric myelination.

Reliability of cerebral measures in repeated examinations with magnetic resonance imaging.

This study examined the reliability of quantitative measures of cerebral magnetic resonance images (MRI) in repeated scans. Ten subjects were scanned twice, at 2- to 4-week intervals. Volumetric data from 14 regions of the cerebrum, the caudate nucleus, and the lateral ventricles and area measures of the corpus callosum were acquired. Intrarater and scan-rescan reliabilities, including the relative percent error from each of these two sources, were determined for each structure. Intraclass correlations ranged from 0.88 for the head of the caudate nucleus to 0.99 for the ventricular volume. Quantitative cerebral MRI measures of these structures are stable over time intervals of 2-4 weeks.

Quantitative morphology of the caudate nucleus in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Because the caudate nuclei receive inputs from cortical regions implicated in executive functioning and attentional tasks, caudate and total brain volumes were examined in boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and normal comparison subjects. To gain developmental perspective, a wide age range was sampled for both groups. METHOD: The brains of 50 male ADHD patients (aged 6-19) and 48 matched comparison subjects were scanned by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Volumetric measures of the head and body of the caudate nucleus were obtained from T1-weighted coronal images. Interrater reliabilities (intraclass correlations) were 0.89 or greater. RESULTS: The normal pattern of slight but significantly greater right caudate volume across all ages was not seen in ADHD. Mean right caudate volume was slightly but significantly smaller in the ADHD patients than in the comparison subjects, while there was no significant difference for the left. Together these facts accounted for the highly significant lack of normal asymmetry in caudate volume in the ADHD boys. Total brain volume was 5% smaller in the ADHD boys, and this was not accounted for by age, height, weight, or IQ. Smaller brain volume in ADHD did not account for the caudate volume or symmetry differences. For the normal boys, caudate volume decreased substantially (13%) and significantly with age, while in ADHD there was no age-related change. CONCLUSIONS: Along with previous MRI findings of low volumes in corpus callosum regions, these results support developmental abnormalities of frontal-striatal circuits in ADHD.