How brain networks tic: predicting tic severity through rs-fMRI dynamics in Tourette syndrome

medRxiv

Abstract

Abstract Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by motor and phonic tics, which several different theories, such as basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical loop dysfunction and amygdala hypersensitivity, have sought to explain. Previous research has shown dynamic changes in the brain prior to tic onset leading to tics, and this study aims to investigate the contribution of network dynamics to them. For this, we have employed three methods of functional connectivity to resting-state fMRI data - namely the static, the sliding window dynamic and the ICA based estimated dynamic; followed by an examination of the static and dynamic network topological properties. A leave-one-out (LOO-) validated regression model with LASSO regularization was used to identify the key predictors. Most relevant predictors were related to regions belonging to the amygdala-mediated visual social processing network. This is in line with a recently proposed social decision-making dysfunction hypothesis, opening new horizons in understanding tic pathophysiology.

Authors 6

1. Shukti Ramkiran Aachen Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine 4 (INM-4), Forschungszentrum Juelich, Juelich, Germany

   JARA – BRAIN – Translational Medicine, Germany

2. Tanja Veselinović Aachen Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine 4 (INM-4), Forschungszentrum Juelich, Juelich, Germany

3. Jürgen Dammers

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine 4 (INM-4), Forschungszentrum Juelich, Juelich, Germany

4. Ravichandran Rajkumar Aachen Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine 4 (INM-4), Forschungszentrum Juelich, Juelich, Germany

   JARA – BRAIN – Translational Medicine, Germany

5. Nadim Jon Shah Aachen Department of Neurology

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine 11 (INM-11), JARA, Forschungszentrum Juelich, Juelich, Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine 4 (INM-4), Forschungszentrum Juelich, Juelich, Germany

   JARA – BRAIN – Translational Medicine, Germany

6. Irene Neuner corresponding Aachen Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine 4 (INM-4), Forschungszentrum Juelich, Juelich, Germany

   JARA – BRAIN – Translational Medicine, Germany