The Role of the Left Inferior Parietal Cortex in Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome-An rTMS Study

Theresa Paulus; Lynn Wernecke; Annik Lundie; Julia Friedrich; Julius Verrel; Tina Rawish; Anne Weissbach; Christian Frings; Christian Beste; Tobias Bäumer; Alexander Münchau

doi:10.3390/biomedicines11030980

The Role of the Left Inferior Parietal Cortex in Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome-An rTMS Study

Biomedicines. 2023 Mar 22;11(3):980. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines11030980.

Authors

Theresa Paulus^{1

2}, Lynn Wernecke¹, Annik Lundie¹, Julia Friedrich¹, Julius Verrel¹, Tina Rawish¹, Anne Weissbach^{1

3}, Christian Frings⁴, Christian Beste^{5

6

7}, Tobias Bäumer¹, Alexander Münchau¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Systems Motor Science, University of Lübeck, 23562 Lübeck, Germany.
² Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, 23562 Lübeck, Germany.
³ Institute of Neurogenetics, University of Lübeck, 23562 Lübeck, Germany.
⁴ Department of Cognitive Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Trier, 54296 Trier, Germany.
⁵ Cognitive Neurophysiology, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
⁶ Neuropsychology Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
⁷ Cognitive Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, China.

Abstract

Increased activity in the left inferior parietal cortex (BA40) plays a role in the generation of tics in the Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS). Thus, inhibitory repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) applied to BA40 was hypothesized to alleviate symptoms in GTS. We investigated the immediate effects of single-session 1 Hz rTMS and sham stimulation delivered to the left BA40 on tics assessed with the Rush video protocol in 29 adults with GTS. There were no significant effects on tic symptoms following rTMS or sham stimulation. Moreover, there was no difference when comparing the effects of both stimulation conditions. Bayesian statistics indicated substantial evidence against an intervention effect. The left BA40 appears not to be a useful target for 1 Hz rTMS to modulate tic symptoms in GTS patients.

Keywords: BA40; Gilles de la Tourette syndrome; left inferior parietal cortex; repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation; rush score; tics.

Grants and funding

DFG, FOR 2698/Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft