Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry · Dec 2016
Comparative StudyComparing Brain Morphometry Across Multiple Childhood Psychiatric Disorders.
In both children and adults, psychiatric illness is associated with structural brain alterations, particularly in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, most studies compare gray matter volume (GMV) in healthy volunteers (HVs) to one psychiatric group. We compared GMV among youth with anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder (BD), disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and HVs. ⋯ Both disorder-specific and shared GMV differences manifest in pediatric psychopathology. Some differences were specific to anxiety disorders, others specific to BD, and others shared between BD and DMDD. Further developmental research might map commonalities and differences of structure and function in diverse pediatric psychopathologies.