Jeong-Won Jeong1,2, Michael Behen1,2,
Piti Sinsoongsud1,2, Otto Muzik, 2,3, Benjamin Wilson1,2,
Harry T. Chugani, 2,3
1Pediatrics and Neurology, Wayne State
University, Detroit, MI, United States; 2PET center, Children's
Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI, United States; 3Pediatrics, Neurology, and Radiology, Wayne State
University, Detroit, MI, United States
A
previous 18FDG-PET study revealed that children with histories of
institutional rearing showed significantly decreased glucose metabolism in
neumerous brain regions. Dysfunction
in these regions may result from severe stress of early deprivation. This
study presents an atlas-based analysis to assess specific volumetric changes
in predefined brain regions of the children with histories of early
deprivation and examines associations between regional findings and
cognitive, socioemotional, and behavioral difficulties that commonly are
observed in the orphans. Significant bilateral volume reduction in grey-white
matter was observed in the orphan group. It was highly correlated with their
externalizing behavioral deficit and perceptual functioning.