Cerebral Activation in Subjects with Developmental Coordination Disorder: A Pilot Study with PET Imaging

Abstract

Background: Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder encountered in about 6% of children at school age. DCD mostly affects motor task automatization and it persists in adulthood. Several brain structures were supposed to be involved in DCD pathophysiology. Quantitative imaging techniques have the potential to investigate these connected brain regions associated with motor tasks. Methods: In the present work, we studied with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) and positron emission tomography imaging (PET) brain metabolism in subjects with DCD versus control in resting state and during repetitive and standardized finger movements of the left non-dominant hand. We analyzed 42 brain structures in the right and left hemispheres and the data were statistically assessed by the Ward clustering approach to detect the activated/non-activated/deactivated brain regions. Results: The images obtained with PET clearly showed different uptake of 18F-FDG in subjects with DCD with respect to control subjects. The statistics showed less brain regions activated and more deactivated in subjects with DCD than in control. Among other differences, the right thalamus was activated in DCD subjects as both caudate nuclei were deactivated for a possible compensation for basal ganglia dysfunction or deficit. Conclusions: This first PET study of DCD found significant thalamus activation as previous studies on finger movement tasks comparing PET and fMRI in normal subjects. The Ward clustering in DCD images allowed to identify activated/non-activated/deactivated brain structures in subjects with DCD versus control.