Archival ReportCortical Thickness, Cortico-Amygdalar Networks, and Externalizing Behaviors in Healthy Children
Section snippets
Sample
The NIH MRI Study of Normal Brain Development is a multisite project providing a demographically representative and normative sample aimed at characterizing healthy brain maturation in relationship to behavior 16, 17. Subjects were recruited at six study centers across the United States. Continuous monitoring at all sites ensured recruitment of participants that were demographically representative of the US population (based on age, sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status). Informed consent
Demographics
Descriptive statistics of the analyzed sample are presented in Table 1. After strict quality control of MRI data and exclusion of subjects without scores for the CBCL for children aged 6 to 18 years, our sample numbered 297 participants (164 female subjects) with 517 MRI scans and CBCL scores (age range = 6–18 years, mean = 12.1 ± 3.1). Raw CBCL externalizing scores ranged between 0 and 24 (t score = 32–69) (mean = 3.13 ± 3.4). Successful measurement of amygdala volume was completed in the same
Discussion
In the present study, we examined cortical thickness and cortico-amygdalar network correlates of externalizing behavior in a longitudinal sample of 297 healthy children, with 517 MRI brain scans and behavioral scores, from the NIH MRI Study of Normal Brain Development. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine structural relationships between regional cortical thickness, amygdalae, and externalizing behaviors in children. We first found that thicknesses within left OFC, right
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