title: Altered structure of cortical sulci in gilles de la Tourette syndrome: Further support for abnormal brain development.
abstract: Gilles de la Tourette syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by the presence of motor and vocal tics. We hypothesized that patients with this syndrome would present an aberrant pattern of cortical formation, which could potentially reflect global alterations of brain development. Using 3 Tesla structural neuroimaging, we compared sulcal depth, opening, and length and thickness of sulcal gray matter in 52 adult patients and 52 matched controls. Cortical sulci were automatically reconstructed and identified over the whole brain, using BrainVisa software. We focused on frontal, parietal, and temporal cortical regions, in which abnormal structure and functional activity were identified in previous neuroimaging studies. Partial correlation analysis with age, sex, and treatment as covariables of noninterest was performed amongst relevant clinical and neuroimaging variables in patients. Patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome showed lower depth and reduced thickness of gray matter in the pre- and post-central as well as superior, inferior, and internal frontal sulci. In patients with associated obsessive-compulsive disorder, additional structural changes were found in temporal, insular, and olfactory sulci. Crucially, severity of tics and of obsessive-compulsive disorder measured by Yale Global Tic severity scale and Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive scale, respectively, correlated with structural sulcal changes in sensorimotor, temporal, dorsolateral prefrontal, and middle cingulate cortical areas. Patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome displayed an abnormal structural pattern of cortical sulci, which correlated with severity of clinical symptoms. Our results provide further evidence of abnormal brain development in GTS.
authors.affiliation: Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP), INSERM, ICM, Centre d'Investigation Clinique Pitié Neurosciences, CIC-1422, Département des Maladies du Système Nerveux, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France; Department of Neurology, Inselspital, University Hospital Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Muellner
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Delmaire
authors.forename: Romain
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Valabrégue
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schüpbach
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Mangin
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vidailhet
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lehéricy
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hartmann
authors.forename: Yulia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Worbe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D016011:Normal Distribution; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D005879:Tourette Syndrome / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: 3 Tesla MRI; Gilles de la Tourette syndrome; cortical thickness; gyrification; sulcal depth; sulcal length; sulcal opening