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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Hilmar SigurdssonORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by repetitive and intermittent motor and vocal tics. TS is thought to reflect fronto-striatal dysfunction and the aetiology of the disorder has been linked to widespread alterations in the functional and structural integrity of the brain. The aim of this study was to assess white matter (WM) abnormalities in a large sample of young patients with TS in comparison to a sample of matched typically developing control individuals (CS) using diffusion MRI. The study included 35 patients with TS (3 females; mean age: 14.0 ± 3.3) and 35 CS (3 females; mean age: 13.9 ± 3.3). Diffusion MRI data was analysed using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) and probabilistic tractography. Patients with TS demonstrated both marked and widespread decreases in axial diffusivity (AD) together with altered WM connectivity. Moreover, we showed that tic severity and the frequency of premonitory urges (PU) were associated with increased connectivity between primary motor cortex (M1) and the caudate nuclei, and increased information transfer between M1 and the insula, respectively. This is to our knowledge the first study to employ both TBSS and probabilistic tractography in a sample of young patients with TS. Our results contribute to the limited existing literature demonstrating altered connectivity in TS and confirm previous results suggesting in particular, that altered insular function contributes to increased frequency of PU.
Author(s): Sigurdsson HP, Pépés SE, Jackson GM, Draper A, Morgan PS, Jackson SR
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Cortex
Year: 2018
Volume: 104
Pages: 75-89
Print publication date: 01/07/2018
Online publication date: 12/04/2018
Acceptance date: 04/04/2018
Date deposited: 08/04/2019
ISSN (print): 0010-9452
ISSN (electronic): 1973-8102
Publisher: Elsevier
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2018.04.004
DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.04.004
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