Surface Morphological Features of the Thalamus and Basal Ganglia in Tourette Syndrome

Grant Type
Clinical
Grant Year
2008-2009
Institution Location
NY
Institution Organization Name
Columbia University
Investigators Name
Peterson, Bradley, MD

The Pediatric Brain Imaging Laboratory at Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute have assembled an important neuroimaging database of 450 anatomical MRI scans from both children and adults with Tourette Syndrome (TS), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), as well as healthy, unaffected children. We plan to use these images to conduct detailed analyses of the various sub-regions within the basal ganglia and thalamus – regions of the brain that house critically important components of the brain circuits believed to produce symptoms for each of these disorders. These analyses, which have only recently become available, will provide exquisite and unprecedented detail about the anatomical features of the thalamus and basal ganglia. We expect that our analyses will show that certain areas of the thalamus and basal ganglia are uniquely involved in causing the symptoms of each disorder. These findings will help us improve our understanding of the specific neural circuits that lead to TS, OCD and ADHD. Bradley S. Peterson, M.D., Ravi Bansal, Ph.D., Jun Liu, Ph.D. Columbia University & New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY Award: $75,000 This Award is funded by Randi Zemsky and Shirley and Sam Zemsky Tourette Association of America Inc. – Research Grant Award 2008-2009