title: Combining tract- and atlas-based analysis reveals microstructural abnormalities in early Tourette syndrome children.
abstract: Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder that causes uncontrolled repetitive motor and vocal tics in children. Examining the neural basis of TS churned out different research studies that advanced our understanding of the brain pathways involved in its development. Particularly, growing evidence points to abnormalities within the fronto-striato-thalamic pathways. In this study, we combined Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) and Atlas-based regions of interest (ROI) analysis approach, to investigate the microstructural diffusion changes in both deep and superficial white matter (SWM) in TS children. We then characterized the altered microstructure of white matter in 27 TS children in comparison with 27 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. We found that fractional anisotropy (FA) decreases and radial diffusivity (RD) increases in deep white matter (DWM) tracts in cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) circuit as well as SWM. Furthermore, we found that lower FA values and higher RD values in white matter regions are correlated with more severe tics, but not tics duration. Besides, we also found both axial diffusivity and mean diffusivity increase using Atlas-based ROI analysis. Our work may suggest that microstructural diffusion changes in white matter is not only restricted to the gray matter of CSTC circuit but also affects SWM within the primary motor and somatosensory cortex, commissural and association fibers. Hum Brain Mapp 37:1903-1919, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Management and Control for Complex Systems, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Research Center for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hongwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.|Beijing Key Lab of Magnetic Imaging Device and Technique, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Management and Control for Complex Systems, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jieqiong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and BRIC, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Islem
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rekik
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.|Beijing Key Lab of Magnetic Imaging Device and Technique, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jishui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.|Beijing Key Lab of Magnetic Imaging Device and Technique, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.|Beijing Key Lab of Magnetic Imaging Device and Technique, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hongwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.|Beijing Key Lab of Magnetic Imaging Device and Technique, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Management and Control for Complex Systems, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Research Center for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Huiguang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016880:Anisotropy; D001931:Brain Mapping; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D005879:Tourette Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D066127:White Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Tourette syndrome; atlas-based ROI analysis; large deformation diffeomorphic metric mapping; superficial white matter; tract-based spatial statistics