Neural correlates of irritability in a community sample of children

Melissa Mulraney; Emma Sciberras; Alisha Gulenc; Daryl Efron; Philip Hazell; Timothy J Silk

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2021.05.093

Neural correlates of irritability in a community sample of children

J Affect Disord. 2021 Sep 1:292:223-226. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.05.093. Epub 2021 Jun 5.

Authors

Melissa Mulraney¹, Emma Sciberras², Alisha Gulenc³, Daryl Efron², Philip Hazell⁴, Timothy J Silk⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Social Neuroscience, ISN Innovations, Ivanhoe, Australia; Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: mmulraney@isn.edu.au.
² Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia; The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
³ Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
⁴ Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
⁵ Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia.

PMID: 34130187
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.05.093

Abstract

Irritability has been associated with aberrant patterns of neural activation, yet little is known about structural brain correlates of irritability. As such, we aimed to investigate associations between irritability and gray matter volume (GMV) in a community sample of children enriched for irritability. The sample comprised children (n=162) aged 9-11 years with and without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), participating in a cohort study with magnetic resonance imaging data available. Mixed effects linear regression analyses tested the associations between irritability symptoms and regional GMV (extracted using Freesurfer). Irritability was associated with smaller gray matter volume across multiple brain regions implicated in executive functioning, and emotion and reward processing including frontal regions and the cingulate.

Keywords: Child; Gray matter volume; Irritability; MRI.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity*
Brain / diagnostic imaging
Child
Cohort Studies
Gray Matter* / diagnostic imaging
Humans
Irritable Mood
Magnetic Resonance Imaging