Combining tract- and atlas-based analysis reveals microstructural abnormalities in early Tourette syndrome children

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• 作者：Hongwei Wen ; Yue Liu ; Jieqiong Wang ; Islem Rekik ; Jishui Zhang ; Yue Zhang ; Hongwei Tian ; Yun Peng and Huiguang He
• 关键词：Tourette syndrome ; tract-based spatial statistics ; atlas-based ROI analysis ; large deformation diffeomorphic metric mapping ; superficial white matter
• 刊名：Human Brain Mapping
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：May 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：37
• 期：5
• 页码：1903-1919
• 全文大小：3757K
• ISSN：1097-0193

文摘

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder that causes uncontrolled repetitive motor and vocal tics in children. Examining the neural basis of TS churned out different research studies that advanced our understanding of the brain pathways involved in its development. Particularly, growing evidence points to abnormalities within the fronto-striato-thalamic pathways. In this study, we combined Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) and Atlas-based regions of interest (ROI) analysis approach, to investigate the microstructural diffusion changes in both deep and superficial white matter (SWM) in TS children. We then characterized the altered microstructure of white matter in 27 TS children in comparison with 27 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. We found that fractional anisotropy (FA) decreases and radial diffusivity (RD) increases in deep white matter (DWM) tracts in cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) circuit as well as SWM. Furthermore, we found that lower FA values and higher RD values in white matter regions are correlated with more severe tics, but not tics duration. Besides, we also found both axial diffusivity and mean diffusivity increase using Atlas-based ROI analysis. Our work may suggest that microstructural diffusion changes in white matter is not only restricted to the gray matter of CSTC circuit but also affects SWM within the primary motor and somatosensory cortex, commissural and association fibers. Hum Brain Mapp 37:1903–1919, 2016.