Longitudinal changes of ADHD symptoms in association with white matter microstructure: a tract-specific fixel-based analysis

Background Variation in the longitudinal course of childhood attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) coincides with neurodevelopmental maturation of brain structure and function. Prior work has attempted to determine how alterations in white matter (WM) relate to changes in symptom severity, but much of that work has been done in smaller cross-sectional samples using voxel-based analyses. Using standard diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) methods, we previously showed WM alterations were associated with ADHD symptom remission over time in a longitudinal sample of probands, siblings, and unaffected individuals. Here, we extend this work by further assessing the nature of these changes in WM microstructure by including an additional follow-up measurement (aged 18 – 34 years), and using the more physiologically informative fixel-based analysis (FBA).

Methods Data were obtained from 139 participants over 3 clinical and 2 follow-up DWI waves, and analyzed using FBA in regions-of-interest based on prior findings. We replicated previously reported significant models and extended them by adding another time-point, testing whether changes in combined and hyperactivity-impulsivity (HI) continuous symptom scores are associated with fixel metrics at follow-up.

Results Clinical improvement in HI symptoms over time was associated with more fiber density at follow-up in the left corticospinal tract (lCST) (t_max=1.092, standardized effect[SE]=0.044, p_FWE=0.016), and improvement in combined symptoms over time was associated with more fiber cross-section at follow-up in the lCST (t_max=3.775, SE=0.051, p_FWE=0.019).

Conclusions Aberrant white matter development involves both lCST micro- and macrostructural alterations and its path may be moderated by preceding symptom trajectory.