Abstract
Objective: Pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and clinically relevant obsessive-compulsive symptoms in the general population are associated with increased thalamic volume. It is unknown whether this enlargement is explained by specific thalamic subregions. The relation between obsessive-compulsive symptoms and volume of thalamic subregions was investigated in a population-based sample of children. Method: Obsessive-compulsive symptoms were measured in children (9-12 years of age) from the Generation R Study using the Short Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Screener (SOCS). Thalamic nuclei volumes were extracted from structural 3T magnetic resonance imaging scans using the ThalamicNuclei pipeline and regrouped into anterior, ventral, intralaminar/medial, lateral, and pulvinar subregions. Volumes were compared between children with symptoms above clinical cutoff (probable OCD cases, SOCS ≥ 6, n = 156) and matched children without symptoms (n = 156). Linear regression models were fitted to investigate the association between continuous SOCS score and subregional volume in the whole sample (N = 2500). Results: Children with probable OCD had larger ventral nuclei compared with children without symptoms (d = 0.25, p =.025, false discovery rate adjusted p =.126). SOCS score showed a negative association with pulvinar volume when accounting for overall thalamic volume (β = −0.057, p =.009, false discovery rate adjusted p =.09). However, these associations did not survive multiple testing correction. Conclusion: The results suggest that individual nuclei groups contribute in varying degrees to overall thalamic volume in children with probable OCD, although this did not survive multiple comparisons correction. Understanding the role of thalamic nuclei and their associated circuits in pediatric OCD could lead toward treatment strategies targeting these circuits.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 321-330 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 30 Jun 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Feb 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This study was supported by grants from The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw), Vidi grant awarded to Prof. Dr. van den Heuvel (project number: 91717306) and Vici grant awarded to Prof. Dr. Tiemeier (project number: 016.VICI.170.200). Dr. Vriend received a grant from Brain Foundation (Hersenstichting) Netherlands (HA-2017-00227). Dr. Huyser received funding from the Academic Medical Center and Graduate School Neurosciences Amsterdam Rotterdam (ONWAR). Prof. Dr. van der Werf is a subawardee of the National Institute on Aging Research Project Grant Program (1R01AG058854-01A1). The general design of the Generation R Study is made possible by financial support from the Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Erasmus University Rotterdam, ZonMw, the Dutch Research Council (NWO), and the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport. Neuroimaging and the neuroimaging infrastructure were supported by the ZonMw TOP grant awarded to Dr. White (project number 91211021).Disclosure: Dr. Vriend has been listed as an inventor on a patent licensed to General Electric (WO2018115148A1). Dr. White has received grant or research support from the Sophia Children's Hospital Foundation, NWO, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health. She has served on the scientific advisory board/DSMB of the University of Bergen Center for Brain Plasticity. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Aperture Neuro and has served on the editorial board of Neuroinformatics. Dr. van den Heuvel has received a consultation honorarium from Lundbeck, Ltd. Drs. Weeland, van der Werf, Huyser, Hillegers, and Tiemeier have reported no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.
Funding Information:
This study was supported by grants from The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development ( ZonMw ), Vidi grant awarded to Prof. Dr. van den Heuvel (project number: 91717306) and Vici grant awarded to Prof. Dr. Tiemeier (project number: 016.VICI.170.200). Dr. Vriend received a grant from Brain Foundation ( Hersenstichting ) Netherlands (HA-2017-00227). Dr. Huyser received funding from the Academic Medical Center and Graduate School Neurosciences Amsterdam Rotterdam (ONWAR). Prof. Dr. van der Werf is a subawardee of the National Institute on Aging Research Project Grant Program (1R01AG058854-01A1). The general design of the Generation R Study is made possible by financial support from the Erasmus Medical Center , Rotterdam, the Erasmus University Rotterdam , ZonMw , the Dutch Research Council ( NWO ), and the Ministry of Health , Welfare, and Sport. Neuroimaging and the neuroimaging infrastructure were supported by the ZonMw TOP grant awarded to Dr. T. White (project number 91211021).
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