Laterality of the frontal aslant tract (FAT) explains externalizing behaviors through its association with executive function

Abstract

We investigated the development of a recently identified white matter pathway, the frontal aslant tract (FAT) and its association with executive function and externalizing behaviors in a sample of 129 neurotypical male and female human children ranging in age from 7 months to 19 years. We found that the FAT could be tracked in 92% of those children, and that the pathway showed age-related differences into adulthood. The change in white matter microstructure was very rapid until about 6 years, and then plateaued, only to show age-related increases again after the age of 11 years. In a subset of those children (5-18 years; n = 70), left laterality of the microstructural properties of the FAT was associated with greater attention problems as measured by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). However, this relationship was fully mediated by higher executive dysfunction as measured by the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF). This relationship was specific to the FAT-we found no relationship between laterality of a control pathway, or of the white matter of the brain in general, and attention and executive function. These findings suggest that the degree to which the developing brain favors a right lateralized structural dominance of the FAT is directly associated with executive function and attention. This novel finding provides a new potential structural biomarker to assess attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and associated executive dysfunction during development.

Is there any incremental benefit to conducting neuroimaging and neurocognitive assessments in the diagnosis of ADHD in young children? A machine learning investigation

“…In addition, it is part of a relatively recently identified fiber pathway, the frontal aslant tract (FAT). Recent work from our group (Dick et al, 2019;Garic et al, 2019) has implicated FAT to be an important potential moderator for ADHD related deficits in executive function. Our modeling results implicate SFG as a potential diagnostic region.…”

Frontoparietal Network in Executive Functioning in Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…At the neurobiological level, atypical brain responses while performing EF tasks are extensively documented in individuals with ASD [Braden et al, 2017; Garic, Broce, Graziano, Mattfeld, & Dick, 2019; Hanaie et al, 2018; Just, Cherkassky, Keller, Kana, & Minshew, 2007; Voorhies et al, 2018; Walsh, Baxter, Smith, & Braden, 2019]. Although studies examining brain structural abnormalities in ASD are limited, those to date report cortical and subcortical differences [Kemper & Bauman, 2002; Romero‐Garcia, Warrier, Bullmore, Baron‐Cohen, & Bethlehem, 2019; Van Rooij et al, 2018], delayed maturation of the frontal lobes [Zilbovicius et al, 1995], and structural abnormalities, including differences in the orbitofrontal cortex [Salmond, De Haan, Friston, Gadian, & Vargha‐Khadem, 2013], corpus callosum [Frazier & Hardan, 2009; Keary et al, 2009], prefrontal cortex (PFC) [Gilbert, Bird, Brindley, Frith, & Burgess, 2008; Rinaldi, Perrodin, & Markram, 2008] and in total brain volume [Freitag et al, 2009; Turner, Greenspan, & van Erp, 2016].…”

Cortical morphometry and structural connectivity relate to executive function and estradiol level in healthy adolescents

“…The sole study linking EF behavior with FA in a healthy adolescent sample investigated the frontal aslant tract (FAT), a newly discovered white matter tract which connects posterior inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) with the pre-supplementary and supplementary motor areas (pre-SMA and SMA), regions proposed to underlie inhibition. The study indicates the FAT develops in a protracted manner into late adolescence/early adulthood and that right lateralization of this fiber pathway is significantly associated with decreased EF behavior as measured by the BRIEF (Garic, Broce, Graziano, Mattfeld, & Dick, 2018). Taken together, scant evidence indicates that EF behavior is associated with both GM and FA changes during childhood and adolescence, yet the results are conflicting.…”