RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Brain structure in pediatric Tourette syndrome JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 054437 DO 10.1101/054437 A1 Alton C. Williams III A1 Deanna J. Greene A1 Jonathan M. Koller A1 Bradley L. Schlaggar A1 Kevin J. Black A1 The Tourette Association of America Neuroimaging Consortium YR 2016 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/05/20/054437.abstract AB Previous studies of brain structure in Tourette syndrome (TS) have produced mixed results, and most had modest sample sizes. In the present multi-center study, we used structural MRI to compare 103 children and adolescents with TS to a well-matched group of 103 children without tics. We applied voxel-based morphometry methods to test gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volume differences between diagnostic groups, accounting for MRI scanner and sequence, age, sex and total GM + WM volume. The TS group demonstrated greater GM volume in posterior thalamus, hypothalamus and midbrain, and lower WM volume bilaterally in orbital and medial prefrontal cortex. These results demonstrate evidence for abnormal brain structure in children and youth with TS, consistent with and extending previous findings. As orbital cortex is reciprocally connected with hypothalamus, our results suggest that structural abnormalities in these regions may relate to abnormal behavioral inhibition and somatic monitoring in TS.