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Neuroimaging of tic genesis: Present status and future perspectives
Author(s) -
Worbe Yulia,
Lehericy Stephane,
Hartmann Andreas
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
movement disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.352
H-Index - 198
eISSN - 1531-8257
pISSN - 0885-3185
DOI - 10.1002/mds.26333
Subject(s) - tics , neuroscience , tourette syndrome , neurochemical , neuroimaging , basal ganglia , psychology , cognition , mechanism (biology) , semiology , functional neuroimaging , central nervous system , epilepsy , psychiatry , philosophy , epistemology
Tics are hyperkinetic movements that are distinctive by their variety in semiology and duration and by their ability to be modulated by cognitive control. They are the hallmark of Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. Despite the variety of clinical presentations in this syndrome, dysfunction of cortico‐striato‐pallido‐thalamo‐cortical networks is suggested as a core pathophysiological mechanism. We review recent structural and functional neuroimaging studies that focused on the anatomical substrate of tics and their possible genesis. These studies showed a consistent relationship between structural and functional abnormalities within motor cortico‐basal ganglia circuits and occurrence of tics. The failure of top‐down cortical control over motor pathways because of the atypical trajectory of brain development could be a possible mechanism of tic genesis. Occurrence of tics results in several adaptive mechanisms, including modification of cortico‐striatal network activity (reduced functional activation of the primary motor cortex) and neurochemical (increased γ‐aminobutyric acid concentrations in the supplementary motor area) and microstructural white matter pathways rearrangements. © 2015 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society