Unpublished Paper
Brain structure in pediatric Tourette syndrome
Open Access
(2016)
Abstract
Previous studies of brain structure in Tourette syndrome (TS) have produced mixed results, and most had modest sample sizes. In the present multi-center study, we used structural MRI to compare 103 children and adolescents with TS to a well-matched group of 103 children without tics. We applied voxel-based morphometry methods to test gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volume differences between diagnostic groups, accounting for MRI scanner and sequence, age, sex and total GM + WM volume. The TS group demonstrated greater GM volume in posterior thalamus, hypothalamus and midbrain, and lower WM volume bilaterally in orbital and medial prefrontal cortex. These results demonstrate evidence for abnormal brain structure in children and youth with TS, consistent with and extending previous findings. As orbital cortex is reciprocally connected with hypothalamus, our results suggest that structural abnormalities in these regions may relate to abnormal behavioral inhibition and somatic monitoring in TS.
Keywords
- MRI,
- volume,
- voxel-based morphometry,
- thalamus,
- pulvinar,
- orbitofrontal cortex
Disciplines
Publication Date
May 20, 2016
DOI
10.1101/054437
Citation Information
Alton C. Williams and Kevin J Black. "Brain structure in pediatric Tourette syndrome" Open Access (2016) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/kjb/63/
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC_BY-NC-ND International License.