ArticleBMC psychiatry2025
Differential alterations of thalamic subregions in children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and comorbid internalizing/externalizing disorders.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is frequently accompanied by both internalizing and externalizing symptoms, yet the neuroanatomical underpinnings of these comorbidities remain unclear, particularly within thalamic subnuclei that serve as central hubs of regulatory control.
methodsWe analyzed 3D T1-weighted MRI data from 359 ADHD patients (mean age = 10.19 ± 2.94, 265 males) and 209 healthy controls (mean age = 10.12 ± 3.48, 137 males) in the Healthy Brain Network cohort. ADHD participants were categorized into three subgroups: ADHD-only (n = 168, mean age = 10.18 ± 3.25), ADHD with internalizing symptoms (n = 97; mean age = 10.61 ± 2.67), and ADHD with externalizing symptoms (n = 94; mean age = 9.78 ± 2.58). Each thalamic nucleus was segmented into 25 subregions using FreeSurfer. ANCOVA were employed to examine differences of thalamic volumes between ADHD patients and healthy controls and to assess the associations with clinical symptoms. Subsequently, volumetric alterations across distinct ADHD comorbidity groups were examined, followed by age-related effects on thalamic development.
resultsCompared to healthy controls (HC), ADHD patients exhibited larger pulvinar anterior volumes and reduced volumes in the ventral anterior magnocellular, reuniens (medial ventral), and anteroventral nuclei. Larger thalamic volume in some subregions was negatively correlated with Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) subscale scores in ADHD patients. Compared to the externalizing subgroup and HC group, the internalizing subgroup showed smaller volume in the reuniens (medial ventral), central lateral, paracentral, and laterodorsal nuclei. Moreover, in adolescents, the internalizing subgroup exhibited significantly smaller parafascicular, central lateral, and laterodorsal thalamic nuclei volumes than the externalizing subgroup. Whereas, in children, ADHD-only subgroup (without internalizing/externalizing comorbidities) demonstrated a significantly larger lateral geniculate nucleus volume relative to the externalizing subgroup.
conclusionsADHD is characterized by alterations in thalamic subregions, with the comorbid internalizing group showing more pronounced abnormalities. Developmentally, these alterations shift from peripheral nuclei in childhood to central nuclei in adolescence, suggesting that thalamic subregional changes in comorbid ADHD may vary across developmental stages. These findings highlight the clinical and developmental relevance of thalamic subregion abnormalities in the heterogeneity of ADHD comorbidities. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.