Increased Frontomotor Oscillations During Tic Suppression in Children With Tourette Syndrome

• Published in: Journal of child neurology 2013-05, Vol.28 (5), p.615-624
• Main Authors: Hong, Hyun Ju, Sohn, Hansem, Cha, Minho, Kim, Seongkyun, Oh, Jihoon, Chu, Min Kyung, Namkoong, Kee, Jeong, Jaeseung
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Beta Rhythm; Brain Mapping; Child; Electroencephalography; Frontal Lobe - physiopathology; Humans; Inhibition (Psychology); Male; Motor Cortex - physiopathology; Neural Pathways - physiopathology; Prefrontal Cortex - physiopathology; Reference Values; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; Statistics as Topic; Theta Rhythm; Tourette Syndrome - diagnosis; Tourette Syndrome - physiopathology
• ISSN: 0883-0738; 1708-8283
• DOI: 10.1177/0883073812450317

This work investigated whether Tourette syndrome patients exhibit alterations in neural oscillations during spontaneous expression and suppression of tics. Electroencephalograms (EEGs) were recorded from 9 medication-naïve children with Tourette syndrome and 10 age-matched healthy subjects in resting conditions and during tic suppression. Their cortical oscillations were examined using the power spectral method and partial directed coherence. The authors found increased oscillations of broad frequency bands in the frontomotor regions of patients during tic expression, suggesting the involvement of aberrant cortical oscillations in Tourette syndrome. More significantly, prominent increases in theta oscillation in the prefrontal area and directed frontomotor interactions in the theta and beta bands were observed during tic suppression. Furthermore, the directed EEG interaction from the frontal to motor regions was positively correlated with the severity of tic symptoms. These findings suggest that the frontal to motor interaction of cortical oscillations plays a significant role in tic suppression.