Abstract
BackgroundTourette syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder defined by the continual presence of primary motor and vocal tics. Grey matter abnormalities have been identified in numerous studies of TS, but conflicting results have been reported. This study was an unbiased statistical meta-analysis of published neuroimaging studies of TS structures.MethodsA voxel quantitative meta-analysis technique called activation likelihood estimation (ALE) was used. The meta-analysis included six neuroimaging studies involving 247 TS patients and 236 healthy controls. A statistical threshold of p < 0.05 was established based on the false discovery rate and a cluster extent threshold of 50 voxels.ResultsWe found that grey matter volumes were significantly increased in the bilateral thalamus, right hypothalamus, right precentral gyrus, left postcentral gyrus, left inferior parietal lobule, right lentiform nucleus, and left insula of TS patients compared to those of healthy controls. In contrast, grey matter volumes were significantly decreased in the bilateral postcentral gyrus, bilateral anterior cingulate, bilateral insula, left posterior cingulate and left postcentral gyrus of TS patients compared to those of healthy controls.ConclusionsOur present meta-analysis primarily revealed significant increases in grey matter volumes in the thalamus and lentiform nucleus, and decreased grey matter volumes in the anterior cingulate gyrus, of TS patients compared to those in healthy controls. Most of these identified regions are associated with cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuits. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm these changes in grey matter volumes in TS patients.
Highlights
Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder defined by the continual presence of primary motor and vocal tics
In previous imaging studies in TS patients, grey matter volumes are decreased in the basal ganglia and left hippocampal gyrus, as well as in orbitofrontal, anterior cingulate, and bilateral ventrolateral prefrontal cortices [10], whereas such volumes are increased in dorsal-lateral prefrontal regions [10, 11], the bilateral ventral putamen [12], posterior thalamus, and hypothalamus
Activation likelihood estimation (ALE) results showed that grey matter volumes were significantly increased in the left thalamus, left red nucleus, right thalamus, right hypothalamus, right precentral gyrus, left postcentral gyrus, left inferior parietal lobule, right putamen, and left insula of TS patients compared
Summary
Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder defined by the continual presence of primary motor and vocal tics. Previous imaging studies on grey matter abnormalities in TS patients have yielded conflicting results. In previous imaging studies in TS patients, grey matter volumes are decreased in the basal ganglia and left hippocampal gyrus, as well as in orbitofrontal, anterior cingulate, and bilateral ventrolateral prefrontal cortices [10], whereas such volumes are increased in dorsal-lateral prefrontal regions [10, 11], the bilateral ventral putamen [12], posterior thalamus, and hypothalamus. Decreased grey matter volumes have been reported in the putamen and some prefrontal regions [13]. These conflicting findings indicate that grey matter abnormalities in TS patients remain unclear and that further studies are needed
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