Division of Developmental and Behavioral Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, 3145 Porter Drive Mail Code 5395, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA.
Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Cerebellum. 2023 Apr;22(2):163-172. doi: 10.1007/s12311-022-01375-7. Epub 2022 Feb 9.
Accumulating evidence suggests that the role of cerebellum includes regulation of behaviors; cerebellar impairment may lead to behavioral problems. Behavioral problems differ by sex: internalizing problems are more common in girls, externalizing problems in boys. Behavioral problems are also elevated in children born preterm (PT) compared to children born full term (FT). The current study examined internalizing and externalizing problems in 8-year-old children in relation to sex, birth-group, fractional anisotropy (FA) of the three cerebellar peduncles (superior, middle, and inferior), and interactions among these predictor variables. Participants (N = 78) were 44 boys (28 PT) and 34 girls (15 PT). We assessed behavioral problems via standardized parent reports and FA of the cerebellar peduncles using deterministic tractography. Internalizing problems were higher in children born PT compared to children born FT (p = .032); the interaction of sex and birth-group was significant (p = .044). When considering the contribution of the mean-tract FA of cerebellar peduncles to behavioral problems, there was a significant interaction of sex and mean-tract FA of the inferior cerebellar peduncle (ICP) with internalizing problems; the slope was negative in girls (p = .020) but not in boys. In boys, internalizing problems were only associated with mean-tract FA ICP in those born preterm (p = .010). We found no other significant associations contributing to internalizing or externalizing problems. Thus, we found sexual dimorphism and birth-group differences in the association of white matter metrics of the ICP and internalizing problems in school-aged children. The findings inform theories of the origins of internalizing behavioral problems in middle childhood and may suggest approaches to treatment at school age.
越来越多的证据表明，小脑的作用包括调节行为；小脑损伤可能导致行为问题。行为问题因性别而异：内化问题在女孩中更为常见，外化问题在男孩中更为常见。与足月出生（FT）的儿童相比，早产儿（PT）出生的儿童的行为问题也更高。本研究考察了 8 岁儿童的内化和外化问题与性别、出生组、三个小脑脚（上、中、下）的各向异性分数（FA）以及这些预测变量之间的相互作用的关系。参与者（N=78）包括 44 名男孩（28 名 PT）和 34 名女孩（15 名 PT）。我们通过标准化的父母报告和使用确定性轨迹追踪法评估小脑脚的 FA 来评估行为问题。与 FT 出生的儿童相比，PT 出生的儿童内化问题更高（p=0.032）；性别和出生组的相互作用具有统计学意义（p=0.044）。当考虑小脑脚的平均轨迹 FA 对行为问题的贡献时，性别和小脑脚的平均轨迹 FA（ICP）与内化问题之间存在显著的相互作用；在女孩中斜率为负（p=0.020），但在男孩中没有。在男孩中，只有在 PT 出生的男孩中，内化问题与 ICP 的平均轨迹 FA 相关（p=0.010）。我们没有发现其他与内化或外化问题相关的显著关联。因此，我们发现了 ICP 白质度量与内化问题之间存在性别二态性和出生组差异，这在学龄儿童中。研究结果为中童年期内化行为问题的起源理论提供了信息，并可能为学龄期的治疗方法提供了思路。
