Cortical grey matter volume differences in children with developmental coordination disorder compared to typically...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Neuroscience
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is characterized by motor deficits, with unknown etiology.
• Neuroimaging suggests altered brain development in DCD, including differences in structural and functional connectivity.
• Limited research has explored cortical volume in children with DCD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate cortical grey matter volume differences in children with DCD compared to typically developing (TD) children using voxel-based morphometry (VBM).

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 30 children with DCD and 12 TD children.
• Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis of cortical grey matter volume using Computational Anatomy Tool Box-12.
• One-way ANOVA to compare groups, controlling for total intracranial volume; regression analyses for motor/attentional predictors.

Main Results:

• Children with DCD exhibited significantly greater grey matter volume in the left superior frontal gyrus compared to TD children.
• Greater grey matter volume in the left superior frontal gyrus, frontal pole, and right middle frontal gyrus correlated with poorer motor skills.
• Increased grey matter in the left superior frontal gyrus, superior parietal lobe, and precuneus was associated with higher ADHD index scores.

Conclusions:

• The findings suggest that greater grey matter volume in specific frontal and parietal regions is associated with motor and attentional impairments in DCD.
• Altered cortical development, possibly due to delayed thinning or aberrant synaptic pruning, may underlie these grey matter differences in DCD.
• This study supports the hypothesis that DCD is linked to neurodevelopmental alterations.