Uhlmann, ADias, ATaljaard, LStein, D.JBrooks, S.JLochner, C2024-06-092024-06-092019-08-02Uhlmann A, Dias A, Taljaard L, Stein DJ, Brooks SJ, Lochner C. White matter volume alterations in hair-pulling disorder (trichotillomania). Brain Imaging and Behavior. 2019 Aug 2. doi: 10.1007/s11682-019-00170-zhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-019-00170-zhttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31376114/https://hdl.handle.net/11288/596316Trichotillomania (TTM) is a disorder characterized by repetitive hair-pulling resulting in hair loss. Key processes affected in TTM comprise affective, cognitive, and motor functions. Emerging evidence suggests that brain matter aberrations in fronto-striatal and fronto-limbic brain networks and the cerebellum may characterize the pathophysiology of TTM. The aim of the present voxel-based morphometry (VBM) study was to evaluate whole brain grey and white matter volume alteration in TTM and its correlation with hair-pulling severity. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (3 T) data were acquired from 29 TTM patients and 28 age-matched healthy controls (CTRLs). All TTM participants completed the Massachusetts General Hospital Hair-Pulling Scale (MGH-HPS) to assess illness/pulling severity. Using whole-brain VBM, between-group differences in regional brain volumes were measured. Additionally, within the TTM group, the relationship between MGH-HPS scores, illness duration and brain volumes were examined. All data were corrected for multiple comparisons using family-wise error (FWE) correction at p < 0.05. Patients with TTM showed larger white matter volumes in the parahippocampal gyrus and cerebellum compared to CTRLs. Estimated white matter volumes showed no significant association with illness duration or MGH-HPS total scores. No significant between-group differences were found for grey matter volumes. Our observations suggest regional alterations in cortico-limbic and cerebellar white matter in patients with TTM, which may underlie deficits in cognitive and affective processing. Such volumetric white matter changes may precipitate impaired cortico-cerebellar communication leading to a reduced ability to control hair pulling behavior.enAttribution 3.0 United Stateshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/CompulsivityImpulsivityNeuroimagingTrichotillomaniaVoxel-based morphometryArticleBrain Imaging and Behavior