Rachel D. Freed1, Barbara J. Coffey1, Xiangling Mao2, Guoxin Kang2, Nora Weiduschat2, Dikoma C. Shungu2, and Vilma Gabbay1
1Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States, 2Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY, United States
γ-aminobutyric
acid (GABA), the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous
system, may play a role in the pathophysiology of Tourette’s disorder (TD). We
used 1H MRS to measure GABA in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)
and striatum of adolescents with TD and healthy controls (HC). Adolescents with TD had lower GABA spectra in the ACC
than HC, suggesting a role for dysregulated ACC neurotransmitter
function. Within the TD group, ACC GABA was
positively associated with tic severity, potentially related to attempts
at regulating or suppressing tics. Findings provide evidence for dysfunction of
the central GABAergic system in TD.
