Structural abnormality of the substantia nigra in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
Autor: | Julia Löffler, Manfred Gerlach, Joseph Classen, Mira Schliesser, Martin Schecklmann, Claudia Mehler-Wex, Marcel Romanos, David R. Weise, Andreas Warnke |
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Rok vydání: | 2010 |
Předmět: |
Male
Pediatrics medicine.medical_specialty Adolescent Ultrasonography Doppler Transcranial Substantia nigra Comorbidity Sex Factors medicine Humans Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Pharmacology (medical) Restless legs syndrome Child Biological Psychiatry Analysis of Variance Brief Report Dopaminergic Age Factors Echogenicity Organ Size medicine.disease Substantia Nigra Psychiatry and Mental health nervous system Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity Female Abnormality Psychology Neuroscience Psychopathology |
Zdroj: | Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience. 35:55-58 |
ISSN: | 1180-4882 |
Popis: | Background: Structural abnormality of the substantia nigra can be detected by transcranial sonography in neuropsychiatric disorders such as Parkinson disease and restless legs syndrome. We investigated echogenicity of the substantia nigra as a potential structural marker for dysfunction of the nigrostriatal dopamine system in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods: We used a blinded design and determined echogenicity of the substantia nigra by use of transcranial sonography in 22 children with ADHD and 22 healthy controls matched for age and sex. Results: The echogenic substantia nigra area was significantly larger in ADHD patients than in healthy controls (F1,42 = 9.298, p = 0.004, effect size = 0.92). We found no effects of age or sex. Limitations: Owing to a lack of dimensional assessment, we could not analyze the correlation between echogenicity and clinical symptoms. Conclusion: Our results support the hypothesis that the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system is abnormal in children with ADHD. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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