Distinct attention network topology and dynamics and their relations with pubertal hormones in preadolescent boys and girls with binge eating.

The increased prevalence of binge eating during puberty is predominantly in girls, coinciding with a surge in pubertal hormones. This suggests that hormone-activated alterations in widespread brain networks, such as attention network, can contribute to the pathophysiology of the disorder in girls, while distinct mechanisms may exist in boys. This study proposed to examine the topological properties and their temporal dynamics of the sustained attention network in preadolescent children with binge eating symptoms (BE) and matched controls and to test the relation of these properties to circulating levels of pubertal hormones. Data from 77 children with BE and 104 group-matched controls were analyzed. In a static network comprising the entire task duration, the nodal topological properties, i.e., nodal efficiency, betweenness-centrality and degree, of the caudate nucleus, hippocampus and inferior parietal gyrus (IPG) significantly differentiated children with and without BE; and that of left caudate were significantly associated with pubertal hormone levels in girls with and without BE, but not in boys. During different substages of sustained attention processing, Variability of the topological properties in key network nodes, such as bilateral IPG, bilateral precentral gyrus and left hippocampus, demonstrated significant between-group differences and/or unique group-by-sex interactions. These results suggest that the association between pubertal hormones and network topological organization may contribute towards the specific rise of BE in girls, while neural mechanisms of BE in boys may alternatively link to suboptimal functional dynamics associated with precentral gyrus, during their interactions with other cortical and subcortical regions when sustained attention is performed.