Pituitary volume in treatment-na?ve pediatric major depressive disorder.

BACKGROUND: Prior pilot investigation identified a larger pituitary gland volume (PGV) in pediatric patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) compared with healthy pediatric control subjects that was most prominent in boys with MDD. In this independent sample, we focus on gender differences in pituitary volume in a larger sample of pediatric patients with MDD. METHODS: Volumetric magnetic resonance imaging studies were conducted in 35 psychotropic drug-na?ve children (15 boys, 20 girls), ages 8-17 years, and 35 case-matched healthy control subjects. RESULTS: The MDD boys had larger PGV (19%) compared with male control subjects. No significant diagnostic group differences in pituitary volume were observed in girls. Healthy boys had significantly smaller PGV (27%) than healthy girls, whereas MDD boys did not differ from girls with MDD. Nonfamilial (without a family history of mood disorder) boys with MDD had significantly larger PGV (35%) than male healthy control subjects and tended to have a larger PGV (27%) than familial (at least one first-degree relative with MDD) boys with MDD. Boys with familial MDD did not differ from control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide new evidence of increased pituitary volume in psychotropic-na?ve pediatric patients with MDD that seems to be more prominent in male patients with nonfamilial MDD.     

Smaller pituitary volume in adult patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder

Aims:  Another structure in the obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) circuit may be the pituitary gland because of the fact that limbic–hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (LHPA) axis abnormality has been reported in patients with OCD. There has been only one prior study, however, concerning pituitary volumetry, in which the sample was a pediatric group. The purpose of the present study was therefore to investigate this in an adult OCD patient group using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Methods:  Pituitary volume was measured in 23 OCD patients and the same number of healthy control subjects. Volumetric measurements were made on T1-weighted coronal MRI, with 2.40-mm-thick slices, at 1.5 T, and were done blindly.
Results:  A statistically significantly smaller pituitary volume was found in OCD patients compared to healthy controls (age and intracranial volume as covariates). With regard to gender and diagnosis, there was a significant difference in pituitary gland volume ( F  = 4.18, P  < 0.05). In addition, post-hoc analysis indicated near-significant difference in men with OCD as compared with women with OCD ( P  = 0.07) and significant difference between control men and control women ( F  = 10.96, P  < 0.001).
Conclusions:  Taking into consideration that the prior study found decreases in pituitary volume in pediatric patients with OCD as compared with healthy control subjects, future large MRI studies should investigate pituitary size longitudinally, with a careful characterization of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) function in conjunction with anatomic MRI evaluation.     

Decreased pituitary volume in patients with bipolar disorder.

BACKGROUND: Neuroendocrinologic investigations in bipolar disorder have suggested abnormalities in pituitary function. However, few imaging studies have evaluated possible anatomical differences in this brain structure in mood disorder patients. Our aim was to examine potential abnormalities in pituitary volume in patients with bipolar and in a comparison group of patients with unipolar disorder. METHODS: We measured the volumes of the pituitary gland in 23 patients with bipolar disorder (mean +/- s.d. = 34.3 +/- 9.9 years) and 13 patients with unipolar disorder (41.2 +/- 9.6 years), and 34 healthy control subjects (36.6 +/- 9.6 years) using 1.5 mm thick T1-weighted coronal 1.5 T MRI images. All measurements were done blindly by a trained rater. RESULTS: Patients with bipolar disorder had significantly smaller pituitary volumes than healthy control subjects (mean volume +/- s.d. = 0.55 +/- 0.15 ml and 0.68 +/- 0.20 ml, respectively; ANCOVA, F = 8.66, p = 0.005), and than patients with unipolar disorder (0.70 +/- 0.12 ml, F = 5.98, p = 0.02). No differences were found between patients with unipolar disorder and healthy control subjects (F = 0.01, p = 0.91). CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first study that reports smaller pituitary volumes in bipolar disorder. Our findings suggest that detectable abnormalities in pituitary size are present in patients with bipolar disorder, which may reflect a dysfunctional HPA axis.     

Pituitary volumes are changed in patients with conversion disorder

Our study group previously measured pituitary volumes and found a relationship between somatoform disoders and pituitary volumes. Therefore, in conversion disorder, another somatoform disorder, we hypothesized that pituitary gland volumes would be reduced. Twenty female patients and healthy controls were recruited to the present investigation. The volumes of the pituitary gland were determined by using a 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance scanner. We found that the pituitary gland volumes of the patients with conversion disorder were significantly smaller than those of healthy control subjects. In the patients with conversion disorder but not in the healthy control group, a significant negative correlation between the duration of illness and pituitary gland volume was determined. In summary, in the present study, we suggest that the patients with conversion disorder have smaller pituitary volumes compared to those of healthy control subjects. Further studies should confirm our data and ascertain whether volumetric alterations determined in the patients with conversion disorder can be changed with treatment or if they change over time.     

Pituitary volume in patients with panic disorder

Panic patients have many functional deficiencies in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Previous studies have shown changed pituitary gland volume in some psychiatric disorders that have functional deficiencies in the HPA axis. However, to date no study has evaluated the pituitary gland volume in patients with panic disorder (PD). We investigated the pituitary gland volume in patients with PD (n = 27) and age- and sex-matched healthy controls (n = 27), using 1.5-T magnetic resonance imaging in this study. Analysis showed that patients with PD had significantly smaller pituitary volume compared to healthy subjects. Patients with agoraphobia especially had a significantly smaller pituitary volume than patients without agoraphobia. There was a significant relationship between the pituitary volume and both the severity of symptoms and the illness duration in the patient group. The results show that patients with PD have reduced pituitary volume, which may reflect the functional abnormalities seen in this disorder. These findings may help us better understand the pathology of PD.     

Quantitative brain magnetic resonance imaging in girls with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

BACKGROUND: Anatomic studies of boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have detected decreased volumes in total and frontal brain, basal ganglia, and cerebellar vermis. We tested these findings in a sample of girls with ADHD. METHODS: Anatomic brain magnetic resonance images from 50 girls with ADHD, of severity comparable with that in previously studied boys, and 50 healthy female control subjects, aged 5 to 15 years, were obtained with a 1.5-T scanner with contiguous 2-mm coronal slices and 1.5-mm axial slices. We measured volumes of total cerebrum, frontal lobes, caudate nucleus, globus pallidus, cerebellum, and cerebellar vermis. Behavioral measures included structured psychiatric interviews, parent and teacher ratings, and the Wechsler vocabulary and block design subtests. RESULTS: Total brain volume was smaller in girls with ADHD than in control subjects (effect size, 0.40; P =.05). As in our previous study in boys with ADHD, girls with ADHD had significantly smaller volumes in the posterior-inferior cerebellar vermis (lobules VIII-X; effect size, 0.54; P =.04), even when adjusted for total cerebral volume and vocabulary score. Patients and controls did not differ in asymmetry in any region. Morphometric differences correlated significantly with several ratings of ADHD severity and were not predicted by past or present stimulant drug exposure. CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm previous findings for boys in the posterior-inferior lobules of the cerebellar vermis. The influence of the cerebellar vermis on prefrontal and striatal circuitry should be explored.     

Smaller cingulate volumes in unipolar depressed patients.

BACKGROUND: The anterior cingulate cortex is a key structure in brain networks involved in mood regulation. Abnormalities in this brain region are possibly implicated in the pathophysiology of depression. This anatomical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study compared cingulate cortex volumes in unipolar depressed patients and age- and gender-matched healthy control subjects. METHODS: Thirty-one unmedicated DSM-IV unipolar patients (24 female, aged 39.2 +/- 11.9 years [mean +/- SD]) and 31 healthy control subjects (24 female, aged 36.7 +/- 10.7 years) were studied in a 1.5-T GE Signa magnet (General Electric Medical Systems, Milwaukee, Wisconsin). Cingulate volumes were compared by analysis of covariance with intracranial volume as the covariate. RESULTS: The unipolar patients had significantly smaller anterior and posterior cingulate volumes bilaterally compared with healthy control subjects. When patients were divided into currently depressed (n = 21) and remitted (n = 10) subgroups, currently depressed patients had significantly smaller anterior and posterior cingulate volumes bilaterally compared with healthy control subjects, whereas remitted patients had significantly smaller left anterior cingulate volumes compared with healthy individuals. CONCLUSIONS: Gray matter abnormalities in the cingulate cortex are implicated in the pathophysiology of unipolar depression. Smaller cingulate volumes in currently depressed patients support the hypothesis that cingulate cortex abnormalities are state dependent, whereas changes in left anterior cingulate might be trait related.     

Normal pituitary volumes in children and adolescents with bipolar disorder: a magnetic resonance imaging study

The volume of the pituitary gland in adults with bipolar disorder has previously been reported to be smaller than that of healthy controls. Such abnormalities would be consistent with the HPA dysfunction reported in this illness. We conducted a study of children and adolescents with bipolar disorder to determine whether size abnormalities in the pituitary gland are already present early in illness course. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) morphometric analysis of the pituitary gland was carried out in 16 DSM-IV children and adolescents with bipolar disorder (mean age+/-sd=15.5+/-3.4 years) and 21 healthy controls (mean age+/-sd=16.9+/-3.8 years). Subjects underwent a 1.5 T MRI, with 3-D Spoiled Gradient Recalled (SPGR) acquisition. There was no statistically significant difference between pituitary gland volumes of bipolar patients compared to healthy controls (ANCOVA, age, gender, and ICV as covariates; F=1.77, df=1,32, P=.19). There was a statistically significant direct relationship between age and pituitary gland volume in both groups (r=.59, df=17, P=.007 for healthy controls; r=.61, df=12, P=.008 for bipolar patients). No evidence of size abnormalities in the pituitary gland was found in child and adolescent bipolar patients, contrary to reports involving adult bipolar patients. This suggests that anatomical abnormalities in this structure may develop later in illness course as a result of continued HPA dysfunction.     

Volumetric MRI assessment of brain regions in patients with refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder

No prior study to date has examined the comparisons of the structures that have been implicated in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in patients with refractory OCD, those who are treatment-responded and healthy controls concurrently. Therefore, we performed a volumetric MRI study in patients with refractory OCD, those with treatment responding OCD and healthy controls. Morphometric MRI was used to compare in thirty patients with OCD and ten healthy controls. Of the patient group, ten were first applying patients, ten were treatment-responded and the rest were refractory OCD patients. As a whole group, OCD patients had increased white matter volume than healthy controls. First applying patients had significantly smaller left and right orbito-frontal cortex (OFC) volumes compared with treatment-responded patients and healthy controls, with a significant difference between refractory patients and treatment-responded patients and with no significant difference was found between the volume of first applying patients compared to that of refractory patients. Anterior cingulate exhibited a near-significant difference only between first applying patients and healthy controls on left side. First applying patients had significantly greater left and right thalamus volumes compared with treatment-responded patients and healthy controls and there was a considerable difference in regard to thalamic volumes between refractory patients and treatment-responded patients. Taken together, our findings suggest that reductions in OFC and increase in thalamic volumes may be associated with refractoriness of OCD and may not be due to changes in cingulate and caudate regions.     

A volumetric magnetic resonance imaging study of brain structures in children with Down syndrome

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE : Down syndrome (DS) is the most common genetic cause of mental retardation with deficits in language and memory. Mental retardation of varying degrees is the most consistent feature of DS. The objective of this study was to use high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to investigate the volumes of the hippocampus, amygdala, and temporal and frontal lobes in children with DS compared with healthy children. MATERIAL AND METHODS : MRI of 49 patients was reviewed prospectively. The study included 23 children with DS (9 girls and 14 boys, mean age 6.7 ± 3.7 years) and 26 healthy children (11 girls and 15 boys, mean age 8.3 ± 2.4 years). Volumes of the right and left hippocampus, the right and left amygdala, temporal and frontal lobes and the total brain volume were measured by a radiologist who was unaware of the diagnosis. RESULTS : Total brain volume in children with DS was significantly lower compared with controls. It was associated with significantly lower volume of the frontal and temporal lobes. Children with DS had a significantly smaller right and left hippocampus volume and a significantly smaller right and left amygdala volume than did the control group. We also found a negative correlation between mental retardation and volume of the right hippocampus. CONCLUSIONS : The presence of these abnormalities from an early age contributes to the specific cognitive and developmental deficits seen in children with DS.     

Subcortical volumes in girls with tourette syndrome: support for a gender effect

OBJECTIVE: To test whether girls with Tourette syndrome (TS) show subcortical morphology that differentiates them from control subjects. METHODS: MRI-based subcortical assessment was completed on 19 girls with TS age 7 to 15 years, 11 with TS only, and 8 with TS plus attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (TS + ADHD), and on 21 age- and sex-matched controls. The structures measured were the caudate, putamen, globus pallidus, and lateral ventricle volumes. Whole-brain-corrected volumes and asymmetry indices were compared using two- and three-group designs (i.e., TS versus control; TS-only versus TS + ADHD versus control). RESULTS: Two-group comparisons demonstrated no robust significant differences between girls with TS and gender-matched controls. Three-group comparisons demonstrated that TS-only subjects had significantly small lateral ventricles compared with TS + ADHD and control subjects. Because the two-group comparisons of the current study differed from previous reports of putamen asymmetry index as a marker for TS, retrospective comparisons with data from boys were performed. These additional comparisons showed that girls with TS had putamen asymmetry indices similar to those of boys with TS; however, control girls also showed those same patterns. CONCLUSIONS: Basal ganglia volume and asymmetry differences do not distinguish the girls with TS from matched controls. Gender differences confound the association between putamen asymmetry and TS. Although the numbers are small and the clinical significance is unclear, this study further indicates that girls with TS-only have smaller lateral ventricular volumes than control subjects and those with TS + ADHD.     

Brain structural abnormalities in psychotropic drug-naive pediatric patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated structural abnormalities in brain regions comprising cortical-striatal-thalamic-cortical loops in pediatric patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). METHOD: Volumes of the caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus pallidus and gray and white matter volumes of the anterior cingulate gyrus and superior frontal gyrus were computed from contiguous 1.5-mm magnetic resonance images from 23 psychotropic drug-naive pediatric patients with OCD (seven male patients and 16 female patients) and 27 healthy volunteers (12 male subjects and 15 female subjects). RESULTS: Patients had smaller globus pallidus volumes than healthy volunteers, but the two groups did not differ in volumes of the caudate nucleus, putamen, or frontal white matter regions. Compared to healthy volunteers, patients had more total gray matter in the anterior cingulate gyrus but not the superior frontal gyrus. Total anterior cingulate gyrus volume correlated significantly and positively with globus pallidus volume in the healthy volunteers but not in patients. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide evidence of smaller globus pallidus volume in patients with OCD without the potentially confounding effects of prior psychotropic drug exposure. Volumetric abnormalities in the anterior cingulate gyrus appear specific to the gray matter in OCD, at least at the gross anatomic level, and are consistent with findings of functional neuroimaging studies that have reported anterior cingulate hypermetabolism in the disorder.     

Smaller prefrontal and premotor volumes in boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

BACKGROUND: Anatomic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been limited by use of callosal rather than sulcal/gyral landmarks in defining cerebral lobes and functionally relevant sublobar regions (e.g., prefrontal cortex). We present an investigation of cerebral volumes in ADHD using a Talairach-based approach that uses cortical landmarks to define functionally relevant regions. METHODS: Volumes were compared between groups of 12 boys with ADHD and 12 age- and gender-matched control subjects, using a series of multiple analyses of variance. RESULTS: Boys with ADHD had (on average) 8.3% smaller total cerebral volumes. Significant reductions in lobar volumes were seen only for the frontal lobes. Within the frontal lobes, a reduction was seen in both gray and white matter volumes, with some evidence suggesting lateralization of these findings: reduction in frontal white matter volume was specific to the left hemisphere; there was a bilateral reduction in frontal gray matter volume but more so in the right hemisphere. Subparcellation of the frontal lobe revealed smaller prefrontal, premotor, and deep white matter volumes. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that ADHD is associated with decreased frontal lobe gray and white matter volumes. More than one subdivision of the frontal lobes appears to be reduced in volume, suggesting that the clinical picture of ADHD encompasses dysfunctions attributable to anomalous development of both premotor and prefrontal cortices.     

Pituitary volume predicts future transition to psychosis in individuals at ultra-high risk of developing psychosis.

BACKGROUND: We examined pituitary volume before the onset of psychosis in subjects who were at ultra-high risk (UHR) for developing psychosis. METHODS: Pituitary volume was measured on 1.5-mm, coronal, 1.5-T magnetic resonance images in 94 UHR subjects recruited from admissions to the Personal Assessment and Crisis Evaluation Clinic in Melbourne, Australia and in 49 healthy control subjects. The UHR subjects were scanned at baseline and were followed clinically for a minimum of 1 year to detect transition to psychosis. RESULTS: Within the UHR group, a larger baseline pituitary volume was a significant predictor of future transition to psychosis. The UHR subjects who later went on to develop psychosis (UHR-P, n = 31) had a significantly larger (+12%; p = .001) baseline pituitary volume compared with UHR subjects who did not go on to develop psychosis (UHR-NP, n = 63). The survival analysis conducted by Cox regression showed that the risk of developing psychosis during the follow-up increased by 20% for every 10% increase in baseline pituitary volume (p = .002). Baseline pituitary volume of the UHR-NP subjects was smaller not only compared with UHR-P (as described above) but also compared with control subjects (-6%; p = .032). CONCLUSIONS: The phase before the onset of psychosis is associated with a larger pituitary volume, suggesting activation of the HPA axis.     

Pituitary Volumes Are Reduced in Patients with Somatization Disorder

Objective

Despite of the suggested physiological relationship between somatoform disorder and disturbances in HPA axis function no volumetric study of pituitary volumes in somatization disorder has been carried out. Therefore, we aimed to use structural MRI to evaluate the pituitary volumes of the patients with somatization disorder.

Methods

Eighteen female patients with somatization disorder according to DSM-IV and same number of healthy controls were included into the study. All subjects were scanned using a 1.5-T General Electric (GE; Milwaukee, USA) scanner. Pituitary volume measurements were determined by using manuallly tracings according to standard antomical atlases.

Results

It was found significantly smaller pituitary volumes of the whole group of somatization patients compared to healthy (t=-3.604, p=0.001). ANCOVA predicting pituitary volumes demonstrated a significant main effect of diagnostic group (F=13.530, p<0.001) but TBV (F=1.924, p>0.05) or age (F=1.159, p>0.05). It was determined that there was no significant correlation between smaller pituitary volumes and the duration of illness (r=0.16, p>0.05) in the patient group.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we suggest that the patients with somatization disorder might have significantly smaller pituitary volumes compared to healthy control subjects.     

Volumetric MRI study of key brain regions implicated in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Neuroanatomic abnormalities have been implicated in the pathophysiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). To date, no study has measured the orbito-frontal cortex (OFC), anterior cingulate, caudate nucleus, and thalamus concurrently in first-episode patients. Thus, we performed a volumetric MRI study in patients who were treatment-naive and healthy controls focusing on the in vivo neuroanatomy of the whole brain, total gray and white matter volume, thalamus, caudate nucleus, anterior cingulate cortex, and OFC concurrently. The volumes of thalamus, caudate nucleus, anterior cingulate cortex, and OFC were measured in 12 OCD patients who were treatment-naive and 12 healthy control subjects. Anterior cingulate and OFC volumes included both white and gray matters. Volumetric measurements were made with T1-weighted coronal MRI images, with 1.5-mm-thick slices, at 1.5 T. The patients had increased white matter volume than healthy controls. The patient group had significantly smaller left and right OFC volumes and significantly greater left and right thalamus volumes compared with healthy controls. Anterior cingulate exhibited a near-significant difference between the patients and healthy controls on left side. Significant correlations were found between Y-BOCS scores and left OFC, and right OFC, and between Y-BOCS and left thalamus volumes in the patient group. In conclusion, our findings suggest that abnormalities in these areas may play an important role in the pathophysiology of OCD.     

Pituitary volume in neuroleptic-naïve schizophrenia: a structural MRI study

Abnormalities in the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA) have been implicated in psychosis. To our knowledge, no prior study has measured pituitary volume in a neuroleptic-naïve schizophrenic population. Herein, we present data exploring the volumetric differences in a sample of antipsychotic-naïve patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia versus appropriately matched healthy controls.

Pituitary volumes were measured in 51 patients with schizophrenia (36 males, 15 females, mean age ± S.D.: 25.2 ± 7.4 years) and 55 healthy controls (30 males, 25 females; mean age ± S.D.: 25.2 ± 6.6 years) Measurements were conducted on 1.5 mm thick T1-weighted coronal images from a 1.5T scanner by two trained raters. Patients with schizophrenia had significantly smaller pituitary volumes than healthy control subjects (mean volume ± S.D. = 0.58 ± 0.14 cm³ and 0.66 ± 0.17 cm³ respectively; ANCOVA (using intracranial volume, gender and age as covariates), F = 6.81, df = 1, 101; p = 0.01). These findings provide new evidence of a smaller pituitary volume in neuroleptic-naïve patients with schizophrenia. The observed alterations in pituitary volume are consistent with neuroendocrine studies that have reported abnormalities in the HPA axis in psychosis. Similar volume reductions have been seen in other neuropsychiatric populations and may cut across diagnostic boundaries.     

Sex differences in brain maturation in maltreatment-related pediatric posttraumatic stress disorder

BACKGROUND: Recent investigations suggested that pediatric posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with adverse brain development. However, sex differences are poorly understood. METHODS: In this study, 61 medically healthy children and adolescents (31 males and 30 females) with chronic PTSD secondary to abuse, who had similar trauma and mental health histories, and 122 healthy controls (62 males and 60 females) underwent comprehensive psychiatric assessments and an anatomical MRI brain scan. RESULTS: When gender groups were analyzed separately, findings of larger prefrontal lobe CSF volumes and smaller midsagittal area of the corpus callosum subregion 7 (splenium) were seen in both boys and girls with maltreatment-related PTSD compared to their gender-matched comparison subjects. Subjects with PTSD did not show the normal age related increases in the area of the total corpus callosum and its region 7 (splenium) compared to non-maltreated subjects; however, this finding was more prominent in males with PTSD. Significant sex by group effects demonstrated smaller cerebral volumes and corpus callosum regions 1 (rostrum) and 6 (isthmus) in PTSD males and greater lateral ventricular volume increases in maltreated males with PTSD than maltreated females with PTSD. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that there are sex differences in the brain maturation of boys and girls with maltreatment-related PTSD. Longitudinal MRI brain investigations of childhood PTSD and the relationship of gender to psychosocial outcomes are warranted.     

Pituitary volumes in hypochondriac patients

To date, no study has examined the pituitary volumes in patients with hypochondriasis. In the present study, we evaluated pituitary volumes in patients with hypochondriasis and healthy controls. Twenty individuals with hypochondriasis (ten males, ten females), aged 20 to 48 years, and healthy controls were included into the study. The pituitary volumes were obtained. Volumetric measurements were made with T1-weighted coronal MRI images, with 2.4-mm-thick slices, at 1.5 T, and were done blindly. Volumetric measurements did not demonstrate group differences in the brain measurements, i.e., whole brain volume, white, and gray matter volumes (P > 0.05). We found significantly smaller pituitary volumes of the whole group of hypochondriac patients compared to healthy controls (age and ICV as covariates). To conclude, the results from the current investigation suggest that hypochondriac patients had smaller pituitary volumes compared with healthy controls. This could be the keystone to a better understanding of the neurobiological basis of hypochondriasis.     

Comprehensive examination of frontal regions in boys and girls with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

The current study examined regional frontal lobe volumes based on functionally relevant subdivisions in contemporaneously recruited samples of boys and girls with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Forty-four boys (21 ADHD, 23 control) and 42 girls (21 ADHD, 21 control), ages 8-13 years, participated. Sulcal-gyral landmarks were used to manually delimit functionally relevant regions within the frontal lobe: primary motor cortex, anterior cingulate, deep white matter, premotor regions [supplementary motor complex (SMC), frontal eye field, lateral premotor cortex (LPM)], and prefrontal cortex (PFC) regions [medial PFC, dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC), inferior PFC, lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and medial OFC]. Compared to sex-matched controls, boys and girls with ADHD showed reduced volumes (gray and white matter) in the left SMC. Conversely, girls (but not boys) with ADHD showed reduced gray matter volume in left LPM; while boys (but not girls) with ADHD showed reduced white matter volume in left medial PFC. Reduced left SMC gray matter volumes predicted increased go/no-go commission rate in children with ADHD. Reduced left LPM gray matter volumes predicted increased go/no-go variability, but only among girls with ADHD. Results highlight different patterns of anomalous frontal lobe development among boys and girls with ADHD beyond that detected by measuring whole lobar volumes.