AUTHOR=Sadat-Nejad Younes , Vandewouw Marlee M. , Cardy R. , Lerch J. , Taylor M. J. , Iaboni A. , Hammill C. , Syed B. , Brian J. A. , Kelley E. , Ayub M. , Crosbie J. , Schachar R. , Georgiades S. , Nicolson R. , Anagnostou E. , Kushki A. 

TITLE=Investigating heterogeneity across autism, ADHD, and typical development using measures of cortical thickness, surface area, cortical/subcortical volume, and structural covariance

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

VOLUME=Volume 2 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/child-and-adolescent-psychiatry/articles/10.3389/frcha.2023.1171337

DOI=10.3389/frcha.2023.1171337

ISSN=2813-4540

ABSTRACT=Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism are multi-faceted neurodevelopmental conditions with limited biological markers. The clinical diagnoses of autism and ADHD are based on behavioural assessments and may not predict long-term outcomes or response to interventions and supports. To address this gap, data-driven methods can be used to discover groups of individuals with shared biological patterns. In this study, we investigated measures derived from cortical/subcortical volume, surface area, cortical thickness, and structural covariance investigated of 565 participants with diagnoses of autism (n=262, median[IQR] age=12.2[5.9] , 22% female), and ADHD (n=171, median[IQR] age=11.1[4.0] , 21% female) as well neurotypical children (n=132, median[IQR] age=12.1[6.7] , 43% female). We integrated cortical thickness, surface area, and cortical/subcortical volume, with a measure of single-participant structural covariance using a graph neural network approach. Our findings suggest two large clusters, which differed in measures of adaptive functioning (2 =7.8 , P=0.004), inattention (2 =11.169 , P<0.001), hyperactivity (2  =18.44 , P<0.001), IQ (2  =9.24 , P= 0.002), age (2  =70.87, P<0.001), and sex (2 =105.6, P<0.001). These clusters did not align with existing diagnostic labels, suggesting that brain structure is more likely to be associated with differences in adaptive functioning, IQ, and ADHD features.