Abnormal individualized functional connectivity: A potential stimulation target for pediatric tourette syndrome

Objective

In order to examine whether individualized peak functional connectivity could potentially serve as a target for repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) therapy, we investigated the location of peak functional connectivity (FC) between the cortical motor area and the key brain region, the globus pallidus internus (GPi), in Tourette syndrome, and explored the relationship between the severity of the disease and these aberrant functional connections.

Methods

The study involved a cohort of 103 children diagnosed with Tourette syndrome and 66 age-matched typically developing children. The GPi was served as the seed, and the study compared individualized peak FC strength in the supplementary motor area (SMA) and premotor area between the two groups. Spatial distribution of peak FC in the motor area and GPi-based voxel-wise FC were also analyzed.

Results

Children with Tourette syndrome exhibited lower peak FC in the left SMA when using left GPi as the seed. This reduction in peak FC demonstrated a significant and negative correlation with the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale scores.

Conclusions

SMA-GPi FC is one of the key pathological circuit in Tourette syndrome.

Significance

The individual peak FC location in the left SMA potentially serve as stimulation targets for rTMS treatment of TS.