Voxel-based morphometry of the frontal lobes in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
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1
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, Canada
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2
University of Toronto, Canada
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3
The Hospital for Sick Children, Canada
Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders have impairments in social and cognitive executive functions, which are believed to be related to frontal and caudate damage. It is not known, however, which specific frontal regions and deep grey matter structures are affected. Therefore, the present study examined grey matter differences in FASDs using voxel based morphometry (VBM). METHODS: Subjects were 17 children with FASDs and 17 healthy children between 8-14 years of age. Scans were reoriented to the anterior commissure, normalized and then segmented using the ICBM templates provided with SPM5. Data was smoothed with an 8mm Gaussian kernel. Using 2 sample t-tests and Bonferroni correction, statistical parametric maps revealed significant clusters of reduced grey matter in the frontal lobes. Cluster size was correlated with attention and executive functioning measures. RESULTS: The FASDs group showed significantly reduced grey matter in several frontal areas, including bilateral inferior and middle frontal, middle orbital, superior medial frontal gyri, and left superior orbital gyri, as well as bilateral caudate. Affected areas were found to significantly correlate with select tests of attention and executive functioning. CONCLUSIONS: These results report a mal-developed frontostriatal network in FASDs and suggest grey matter may be particularly sensitive to prenatal exposure to alcohol.
Conference:
The 20th Annual Rotman Research Institute Conference, The frontal lobes, Toronto, Canada, 22 Mar - 26 Mar, 2010.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Frontal Lobe Development
Citation:
Nash
K,
Rovet
J,
Skocic
J and
Stevens
SA
(2010). Voxel-based morphometry of the frontal lobes in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
Conference Abstract:
The 20th Annual Rotman Research Institute Conference, The frontal lobes.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2010.14.00072
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Received:
29 Jun 2010;
Published Online:
29 Jun 2010.
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Correspondence:
K. Nash, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, 2kellynash@gmail.com