Subregional hypothalamic volumes associate with childhood conduct problems in healthy adults.

Overview

1. Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Magna Graecia University, Catanzaro, 88100 Italy
2. Neuroscience Research Center, Magna Graecia University, Catanzaro, 88100 Italy
3. Institute of Neurology, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Magna Graecia University, Catanzaro, 88100 Italy

Abstract

Childhood conduct problems have been linked to alterations in frontolimbic circuits, yet the contribution of hypothalamic subregions remains largely unexplored. This study examined whether hypothalamic morphometry relates to conduct problems in 600 healthy young adults from the Human Connectome Project (206 with and 394 without conduct problems). Volumes of twelve hypothalamic subregions were extracted from structural MRI using the automated FreeSurfer segmentation. Group differences were assessed with linear models, and multivariable associations were tested with logistic regression adjusted for age, sex, and intracranial volume. Influential observations were screened using Cook’s distance, and predictor importance was further evaluated through logistic LASSO regression with tenfold cross-validation. Individuals with a history of conduct problems showed larger volumes in anterior and tubular hypothalamic subregions—specifically the left anterior-inferior, left tubular-inferior, and right tubular-superior—while an initial inverse association in the left posterior subregion was no longer significant after excluding influential cases. These findings identify distinct hypothalamic subregions as structural correlates of early behavioral dysregulation and suggest that hypothalamic morphometry may reflect neurodevelopmental adaptations associated with childhood conduct problems.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11682-026-01154-6.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Code

The paper says that its authors' code is available on request: it was not published with the paper, so there is nothing to verify.

Code Availability

All analysis code is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Tracing map

A tracing map links a paper to the code its authors published: this paper has none (its code is available on request), so it has no map.

Data

No dataset and no data link were found in the paper.

Data availability

Data used in this study are available from the WU-Minn Human Connectome Project (Young Adult S1200 release) upon registration and agreement to the data-use terms.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.

Version 2, 28 September 2026

• Publisher: n/a → Springer Science+Business Media

Version 1, 28 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 4 authors, 5 keywords, 12 MeSH terms, 2 funders, 42 references.

Cite

This paper

Pelagi, A., Camastra, C., Quattrone, A., & Sarica, A. (2026). Subregional hypothalamic volumes associate with childhood conduct problems in healthy adults. Brain imaging and behavior, 20(3), 85. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-026-01154-6

Similar papers

The papers with a page that share the most with this one: the tools found in their code, their categories, datasets, cited references and authors, the rarest counting most.

[1] doi:10.1002/hbm.70515 [code]

From Low Field to High Value: Robust Cortical Mapping From Low-Field MRI.

Journal: Human brain mapping

In common: structural MRI / diffusion, 3 references

[2] doi:10.3389/fcvm.2026.1859362

The association between reduced hypothalamic subregion volume and aortic aneurysm risk: a Mendelian randomization and multi-omics study with clinical MRI validation.

Journal: Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine

In common: structural MRI / diffusion, 2 references

[3] doi:10.1038/s41467-026-74274-8 [code]

Regional sex differences in human cortical anatomy vary in their morphometric bases and overlap with sex chromosomal and gonadal influences.

Journal: Nature communications

In common: developmental, structural MRI / diffusion, 3 references

[4] doi:10.1007/s44192-026-00521-5 [code]

Associations between anterior hypothalamic subunits and ADHD and autistic traits revealed by deep learning MRI segmentation.

Journal: Discover mental health

In common: structural MRI / diffusion, 2 references

[5] doi:10.1038/s41598-026-54446-8 [code]

Deep learning-based Desikan-Killiany parcellation of the brain using diffusion MRI.

Journal: Scientific reports

In common: structural MRI / diffusion, 3 references

[6] doi:10.3389/fcogn.2026.1767179 [code]

Adult lifespan effects on functional specialization along the hippocampal long axis.

Journal: Frontiers in cognition

In common: healthy, 2 references

[7] doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3003927 [code]

Brain structural and functional connectivity converge prenatally but diverge after birth.

Journal: PLoS biology

In common: developmental, structural MRI / diffusion, 2 references

[8] doi:10.1002/advs.76596 [code]

DDSurfer: A Weakly-Supervised Dual-Stream Deep Learning Framework for Cortical Surface Reconstruction From Diffusion MRI.

Journal: Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)

In common: structural MRI / diffusion, 3 references

[9] doi:10.1162/imag.a.1183 [code]

Learning-based segmentation of diffusion-weighted MR images with arbitrary <i>q</i>-space samplings.

Journal: Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)

In common: structural MRI / diffusion, 3 references

[10] doi:10.1038/s41467-026-73072-6 [code]

Mapping the spatiotemporal continuum of structural connectivity development across the human connectome in youth.

Journal: Nature communications

In common: developmental, structural MRI / diffusion, 2 references

Contribute

The authors of this paper can claim it, correct its record and validate its tracing map, and the maintainers of its code (its owner, or a public member of its organization) correct what it says of their repository; anyone signed in can ask for its removal. Every request goes to OSCR's own machine, which answers it; your account page follows them.

Request its removal

To ask OSCR to remove this record, the copies of its authors' scripts or its tracing map, use the removal request page: signed in, you say who you are, what to remove and why, then review and confirm the request. Published rules decide every request (how).

Discussion: questions and error reports about this paper and its code, from signed-in readers and its authors. It opens with sign-in.

Reproductions: reports from readers who ran the authors' code: what they reproduced, with which environment, commit and data. It opens with sign-in.

Activity: what happens around this paper: new versions of its record, its map's validation, discussions and reproductions. It opens with sign-in.