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Real-time fMRI treats Tourette Syndrome

Date:
August 21, 2019
Source:
Yale University
Summary:
Characterized by repetitive movements or vocalizations known as tics, Tourette Syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that plagues many adolescents. A study has now trained adolescents with Tourette Syndrome to control their tics through an imaging technique that allows patients to monitor the function of their own brain in real time.
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Characterized by repetitive movements or vocalizations known as tics, Tourette Syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that plagues many adolescents. A study conducted by Yale researchers has trained adolescents with Tourette Syndrome to control their tics through an imaging technique that allows patients to monitor the function of their own brain in real time.

This study is published in Biological Psychiatry.

The study utilized real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging neurofeedback (rt-fMRI-NF), which is a relatively new technique with great potential for treating neuropsychiatric disorders, according to Michelle Hampson, senior author and associate professor in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging. "It is a non-invasive, neuroscience-based intervention for training human brain function towards healthier patterns," Hampson said.

Although researchers have explored the clinical utility of this technique in treating conditions from depression to Parkinson's disease, this study marks the first time that it has been tested as a clinical intervention for Tourette Syndrome.

The study enrolled individuals with Tourette Syndrome ages 11 to 19 years who displayed a certain frequency of tics as measured by the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale. Subjects were tasked with alternately raising and lowering activity in the supplementary motor area, a brain region associated with tics in Tourette Syndrome, which was displayed to them as a real-time graph during the brain imaging scans. The researchers found a significant reduction of tics in subjects during the training, which exceeded symptom improvements in a control condition (the control condition was designed to induce similar placebo and motivation effects but did not involve real neurofeedback), suggesting that the neurofeedback may be helpful for treating Tourette symptoms.

"Currently available treatments for tics in Tourette Syndrome include behavior therapy and pharmaceuticals, but not everyone responds. This is the first study of its kind showing that rt-fMRI-NF has potential as a treatment for Tourette Syndrome," said Denis Sukhodolsky, co-author and associate professor in the Yale Child Study Center. This was an early stage study with a small sample size, but the promising results should encourage further research, said the investigators.


Story Source:

Materials provided by Yale University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Denis G. Sukhodolsky, Christopher Walsh, William N. Koller, Jeffrey Eilbott, Mariela Rance, Robert K. Fulbright, Zhiying Zhao, Michael H. Bloch, Robert King, James F. Leckman, Dustin Scheinost, Brian Pittman, Michelle Hampson. Randomized, sham-controlled trial of real-time fMRI neurofeedback for tics in adolescents with Tourette Syndrome. Biological Psychiatry, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2019.07.035

Cite This Page:

Yale University. "Real-time fMRI treats Tourette Syndrome." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 21 August 2019. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190821124354.htm>.
Yale University. (2019, August 21). Real-time fMRI treats Tourette Syndrome. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190821124354.htm
Yale University. "Real-time fMRI treats Tourette Syndrome." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190821124354.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

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