Quantitative Morphology of the Frontal Lobe and the Caudate Nucleus in Boys with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Kong, Seog Weon; Lee, Jeong Seop; Lyoo, In Kyoon; Hong, Kang EM

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
Because the caudate nucleus receives inputs from the dorsolateral prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices, it is the area of the interest with ADHD patients in many researches. To identify the lack of normal asymmetry in the frontal lobe and caudate nucleus of the subjects with ADHD, one slice of brain MR images for each subjects were selected, and planimetric method was applied and analyzed.
METHODS
The brain MR images of 14 ADHD boys who met the DSM-III-R diagnostic criteria and 16 headache control group were collected. Single best view far the head of the caudate nucleus, one axial slice was selected for analysis. MR images were redigitized with flatbed scanner and data were analyzed with Brainimage Pascal 2.3.3.1 software. Pixel counting and area measurements were done. Interrater reliabilities were 0.89 or greater.
RESULTS
In both ADHD and control groups, right caudate area was slightly greater than left side, and this difference were more significant in control group. The results showed that the normal asymmetry of frontal lobe and the caudate nucleus was not observed for the ADHD group.
CONCLUSION
The normal asymmetry of the frontal lobe and the caudate nucleus was not seen in boys with ADHD