Background: The main aim of this study was to use proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) to identify brain biomarkers for emotional dysregulation in youth as measured by subscales of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).
Methods: We measured glutamate (Glu) concentrations in the anterior cingulated cortex (ACC) of 37 pediatric subjects (aged 6-17 years) using high field (4.0 Tesla) proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS). Subjects were grouped based on combined T scores on three subscales (Anxiety/Depression, Aggression and Attention) of the CBCL previously associated with deficits in the regulation of emotion. Subjects were stratified into those with high (> 180) (N=10) and low (< 180) (N=27) scores.
Limitations: Limitations include small sample size, wide age range studied, focus on Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) only, and that some subjects received psychopharmacological treatments.
Results: We found a statistically significant correlation between Glu levels in the ACC and CBCL dysregulation profile scores among subjects with high dysregulation profile scores.
Conclusions: These results suggest that glutamatergic dysregulation in the ACC may represent a useful biomarker of emotional dysregulation in youth. Further investigation into the causality, time line and utility as a predictive metric is warranted.