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Oculomotor executive function abnormalities with increased tic severity in Tourette syndrome
Author(s) -
Jeter Cameron B.,
Patel Saumil S.,
Morris Jeffrey S.,
Chuang Alice Z.,
Butler Ian J.,
Sereno Anne B.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/jcpp.12298
Subject(s) - psychology , tourette syndrome , tics , tic disorder , psychiatry , neuroscience , developmental psychology
Background Reports conflict as to whether Tourette syndrome ( TS ) confers deficits in executive function. This study's aim was to evaluate executive function in youths with TS using oculomotor tasks while controlling for confounds of tic severity, age, medication, and severity of comorbid disorders. Method Four saccade tasks requiring the executive functions of response generation, response inhibition, and working memory (prosaccade, antisaccade, 0‐back, and 1‐back) were administered. Twenty youths with TS and low tic severity ( TS ‐low), nineteen with TS and moderate tic severity ( TS ‐moderate), and 29 typically developing control subjects (Controls) completed the oculomotor tasks. Results There were small differences across groups in the prosaccade task. Controlling for any small sensorimotor differences, TS ‐moderate subjects had significantly higher error rates than Controls and TS ‐low subjects in the 0‐back and 1‐back tasks. In the 1‐back task, these patients also took longer to respond than Controls or TS ‐low subjects. Conclusions In a highly controlled design, the findings demonstrate for the first time that increased tic severity in TS is associated with impaired response inhibition and impaired working memory and that these executive function deficits cannot be accounted for by differences in age, medication or comorbid symptom severity.