ArticleDiscover mental health2026
Associations between anterior hypothalamic subunits and ADHD and autistic traits revealed by deep learning MRI segmentation.
Article in Discover mental health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The hypothalamus is a central regulator of neuroendocrine function and social behavior, yet its internal organization has remained difficult to examine in vivo in human neurodevelopmental research. Based on neuroendocrine models, we hypothesized that anterior hypothalamic subunits enriched in magnocellular neurosecretory nuclei-approximating the paraventricular (PVN) and supraoptic (SON) regions-form a structurally coherent axis linked to dimensional traits associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). To test this hypothesis, we applied a convolutional neural network-based automated segmentation framework to high-resolution T1-weighted MRI data from a non-clinical adult sample (n = 23), enabling volumetric quantification of ten hypothalamic subunits. After adjustment for biological sex, age, and total intracranial volume, PVN- and SON-associated volumes showed a significant positive structural covariance (r = 0.51, p = 0.022), consistent with a coherent anterior magnocellular-rich network. Reduced SON-associated volume was significantly associated with higher autistic traits (Autism-Spectrum Quotient: r = - 0.45, p = 0.046) and greater ADHD symptom severity (CAARS: r = - 0.59, p = 0.006). Bootstrapped path analyses (5,000 iterations) further supported this network organization, revealing a robust association between PVN- and SON-associated volumes (β = 0.51, p = 0.013) and a significant indirect association between PVN-associated volume and ADHD symptoms via SON-associated volume (β = - 0.29, p = 0.006), with a marginal indirect association observed for autistic traits. Together, these preliminary findings provide in vivo evidence linking anterior hypothalamic structure to dimensional neurodevelopmental traits and highlight a potential neuroendocrine pathway relevant to psychiatric vulnerability.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.