title: Inter-hemispheric Intrinsic Connectivity as a Neuromarker for the Diagnosis of Boys with Tourette Syndrome.
abstract: Tourette syndrome (TS) is associated with gross morphological changes in the corpus callosum, suggesting deficits in inter-hemispheric coordination. The present study sought to identify changes in inter-hemispheric functional and anatomical connectivity in boys with "pure" TS as well as their potential value for clinical diagnosis. TS boys without comorbidity (pure TS, n = 24) were selected from a large dataset and compared to age- and education-matched controls (n = 32). Intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) between bilateral homotopic voxels was computed and compared between groups. Abnormal iFC was found in the bilateral prefronto-striatum-midbrain networks as well as bilateral sensorimotor and temporal cortices. The iFC between the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was negatively correlated with symptom severity. Anatomical connectivity strengths between functionally abnormal regions were estimated by diffusion probabilistic tractography, but no significant between-group difference was found. To test the clinical applicability of these neuroimaging findings, multivariate pattern analysis was used to develop a classification model in half of the total sample. The classification model exhibited excellent classification power for discriminating TS patients from controls in the other half samples. In summary, our findings emphasize the role of inter-hemispheric communication deficits in the pathophysiology of TS and suggest that iFC is a potential quantitative neuromarker for clinical diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Center for Information in BioMedicine, Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, China.|Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders and the Affiliated Hospital, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 310015, China.|Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou, 310015, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310009, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders and the Affiliated Hospital, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 310015, China.|Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou, 310015, China.
authors.forename: Huan-Huan
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Miao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 1511 Jianghong Rd., Hangzhou, 310058, China.
authors.forename: Yi-Xuan
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders and the Affiliated Hospital, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 310015, China. jigongjun@163.com.|Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou, 310015, China. jigongjun@163.com.|Laboratory of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Rd., Hefei, 230032, China. jigongjun@163.com.
authors.forename: Gong-Jun
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 1511 Jianghong Rd., Hangzhou, 310058, China. zeek2013@sina.com.
authors.forename: Jian-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Feng
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism*; D054022:Cerebrum / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003710:Demography; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000473:pathology*; D005879:Tourette Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: Classification; Functional MRI; Resting state; Tourette syndrome; Tractography