Abstract
BackgroundTourette syndrome is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by motor and phonic tics. Deficient motor inhibition underlying tics is one of the main hypotheses in its pathophysiology. Therefore the question arises whether this supposed deficient motor inhibition affects also voluntary movements. Despite severe motor tics, different personalities who suffer from Tourette perform successfully as neurosurgeon, pilot or professional basketball player.MethodsFor the investigation of fine motor skills we conducted a motor performance test battery in an adult Tourette sample and an age matched group of healthy controls.ResultsThe Tourette patients showed a significant lower performance in the categories steadiness of both hands and aiming of the right hand in comparison to the healthy controls. A comparison of patients’ subgroup without comorbidities or medication and healthy controls revealed a significant difference in the category steadiness of the right hand.ConclusionsOur results show that steadiness and visuomotor integration of fine motor skills are altered in our adult sample but not precision and speed of movements. This alteration pattern might be the clinical vignette of complex adaptations in the excitability of the motor system on the basis of altered cortical and subcortical components. The structurally and functionally altered neuronal components could encompass orbitofrontal, ventrolateral prefrontal and parietal cortices, the anterior cingulate, amygdala, primary motor and sensorimotor areas including altered corticospinal projections, the corpus callosum and the basal ganglia.
Highlights
Tourette syndrome is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by motor and phonic tics
Tourette syndrome (TS) is often accompanied by comorbidities such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), depression and attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) [5,6]
We aimed to address the following questions by our study: a) Are fine motor skills in Tourette patients altered as possibly indicated by neuroimaging studies showing changes in the motor system?
Summary
Tourette syndrome is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by motor and phonic tics. Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterised by motor and phonic tics. Deficient motor inhibition underlying tics is one of the main hypotheses in its pathophysiology. The neuroanatomy of tics has received particular attention in neuroimaging research on Tourette syndrome [10,11], highlighting a network of frontal areas, basal ganglia, insula and cerebellum, compatible with the notion that TS is the result of a failure in network maturation, of the fronto-striatalthalamic-cortical loop [12,13,14]. Alterations in amygdala structure and its functional connectivity are reported [16,17,18]
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