Social function in boys with cleft lip and palate: Relationship to ventral frontal cortex morphology

Aaron D Boes; Vesna Murko; Jessica L Wood; Douglas R Langbehn; John Canady; Lynn Richman; Peg Nopoulos

doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2007.04.009

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Social function in boys with cleft lip and palate: Relationship to ventral frontal cortex morphology

Journal article

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Social function in boys with cleft lip and palate: Relationship to ventral frontal cortex morphology

Aaron D Boes, Vesna Murko, Jessica L Wood, Douglas R Langbehn, John Canady, Lynn Richman and Peg Nopoulos

Behavioural brain research, Vol.181(2), pp.224-231

2007

DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2007.04.009

PMCID: PMC1976412

PMID: 17537526

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http://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2007.04.009View

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Abstract

Isolated clefts of the lip and/or palate (ICLP) are developmental craniofacial abnormalities that have consistently been linked to increased social inhibition or shyness. Two explanations have been proposed: (1) psychosocial factors related to differences in facial appearance may lead to low self-concept and subsequent shyness, or (2) abnormal development of brain structures involved in social function, such as the ventral frontal cortex (VFC), may underlie the difference. To investigate these two possibilities this study was designed to evaluate measures of social function in relation to measures of self-concept and VFC morphology. Subjects included 30 boys (age 7–12) with ICLP and a comparison group of 43 boys without cleft in the same age category. Social function and self-concept were assessed using questionnaires with standardized scoring filled out by subjects and one of their parents. The cortical volume and surface area of the VFC, composed of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and straight gyrus (SG), were evaluated using structural magnetic resonance imaging. The ICLP subjects had significantly impaired social function relative to the comparison group. No difference in self-concept was identified. VFC morphology revealed significant differences between groups, particularly decreased volume and surface area in the left SG of the ICLP group. Moreover, abnormal VFC measures were correlated with social dysfunction but measures of self-concept were not. These results are consistent with the possibility that aberrant VFC development may partially underlie social dysfunction in boys with ICLP.

Neuroimaging

Gyrus rectus

Social function

Magnetic resonance image

Straight gyrus

Cleft lip and palate

Details

Title: Subtitle: Social function in boys with cleft lip and palate: Relationship to ventral frontal cortex morphology
Creators: Aaron D Boes - University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA
Vesna Murko - University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA
Jessica L Wood - University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA
Douglas R Langbehn - University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA
John Canady - University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA
Lynn Richman - University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA
Peg Nopoulos - University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Behavioural brain research, Vol.181(2), pp.224-231
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2007.04.009
PMID: 17537526
PMCID: PMC1976412
NLM abbreviation: Behav Brain Res
ISSN: 0166-4328
eISSN: 1872-7549
Publisher: Elsevier B.V
Language: English
Date published: 2007
Academic Unit: Roy J. Carver Department of Biomedical Engineering; Neurology; Psychiatry; Stead Family Department of Pediatrics; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Neurology (Pediatrics); Otolaryngology
Record Identifier: 9984003479802771

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