Affiliations: Department of Clinical Neuropsychology,
Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany | Department of Neurology, Hannover Medical School,
Germany | Department of Clinical Psychiatry, Hannover Medical
School, Germany | Department of Neurology, Otto-von-Guericke-University
of Magdeburg, Germany
Note: [] Corresponding author: Dr. S.V. Müller, Department of
Neuropsychology, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Box 4120, 39016
Magdeburg, Germany. Tel.: +49 391 6718480; Fax: +49 391 6711947; E-mail:
sandra.mueller@nat.uni-magdeburg.de
Abstract: Objective: Fronto-striatal dysfunction has been discussed as
underlying symptoms of Tourette syndrome (TS) with co-morbid Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder (OCD). This suggests possible impairments of executive
functions in this disorder, which were therefore targeted in the present
study. Methods: A comprehensive series of neuropsychological tests
examining attention, memory and executive functions was performed in a group of
14 TS/OCD in co-occurrence with OCD patients and a matched control group. Results: While attentional and memory mechanisms were not altered,
TS/OCS patients showed deficits in executive functions predominately in the
areas of response inhibition and action monitoring. Conclusions: These findings provide further evidence for a
substantial impairment of the frontal-striatal-thalamic-frontal circuit. We
propose that the deficits in monitoring, error detection and response
inhibition constitute the major impairment of TS/OCD patients in the cognitive
domain.
Keywords: Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder neuropsychology, executive functions, response inhibition, monitoring
