Inhibition of return in children with Tourette's syndrome and comorbid forms: a preliminary study.
BACKGROUND
This study investigated the nature and functioning of the visual-spatial inhibition of return (IOR) phenomenon in children with "pure" Tourette's syndrome (TS), and those with comorbid forms of TS.


METHODS
Children with TS-only and "TS + comorbid" (TS + ADHD +/- OCD) and matched controls performed the inhibition of return (IOR) task, which involved responding to left and right visual targets appearing on a computer screen that were preceded by congruent or incongruent exogenous visual cues.


RESULTS
The TS-only group performed similarly on the IOR task to the controls. When the TS-only group was subdivided into children with mild and severe TS symptoms, a post hoc comparison between the controls and severe TS symptom children revealed that these TS children had a reduced magnitude of IOR for targets appearing in the right visual field. The comparison between the TS + comorbid and controls revealed an atypical IOR pattern for the TS + comorbid group. They displayed a loss of normal facilitatory and inhibitory effects for right visual field targets.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings suggest abnormalities in attentional "disengage" and "move" mechanisms in TS when directing attention to the right visual field, which may reflect left posterior parietal, superior colliculus, and midbrain pathology.
Yuen
Thérèse
T
Experimental Neuropsychology Research Unit, Psychology Department, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
Bradshaw
John L
JL
Sheppard
Dianne
D
Lee
Paul
P
Georgiou-Karistianis
Nellie
N
D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D013028:Space Perception; D005879:Tourette Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014796:Visual Perception