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. 2014 Apr 23;9(4):e95269.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0095269. eCollection 2014.

Brain morphology in children with epilepsy and ADHD

Ricardo Saute  1 , Kevin Dabbs  2 , Jana E Jones  2 , Daren C Jackson  2 , Michael Seidenberg  3 , Bruce P Hermann  2
Affiliations

Brain morphology in children with epilepsy and ADHD

Ricardo Saute et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common comorbidity of childhood epilepsy, but the neuroanatomical correlates of ADHD in epilepsy have yet to be comprehensively characterized.

Methods: Children with new and recent-onset epilepsy with (n = 18) and without (n = 36) ADHD, and healthy controls (n = 46) underwent high resolution MRI. Measures of cortical morphology (thickness, area, volume, curvature) and subcortical and cerebellar volumes were compared between the groups using the program FreeSurfer 5.1.

Results: Compared to the control group, children with epilepsy and ADHD exhibited diffuse bilateral thinning in the frontal, parietal and temporal lobes, with volume reductions in the brainstem and subcortical structures (bilateral caudate, left thalamus, right hippocampus). There were very few group differences across measures of cortical volume, area or curvature.

Conclusions: Children with epilepsy and comorbid ADHD exhibited a pattern of bilateral and widespread decreased cortical thickness as well as decreased volume of subcortical structures and brainstem. These anatomic abnormalities were evident early in the course of epilepsy suggesting the presence of antecedent neurodevelopmental changes, the course of which remains to be determined.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Cortical thickness comparison between epilepsy ADHD+ and control groups.
Monte Carlo cluster-wise simulation: Blue colors indicate significant clusters where the Epilepsy ADHD+ group is thinner than the control group.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Cortical thickness comparison between Epilepsy ADHD+ and Epilepsy ADHD- groups.
Monte Carlo cluster-wise simulation: Blue colors indicate significant clusters where the Epilepsy ADHD+ group is thinner than the Epilepsy ADHD- group.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Cortical area comparison between Epilepsy ADHD- and control groups.
Monte Carlo cluster-wise simulation: Red colors indicate significant clusters where the Epilepsy ADHD- group is larger in area than the control group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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