Anita SD Saporta1, Malek I. Makki2, Benjamin J. Wilson1, Michael E. Behen1, Otto Muzik1, Csaba Juhasz1, Harry T. Chugani1
1Pediatrics, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA; 2Radiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
To study serotonin-metabolism and microstructure associations in caudate nucleus (CN) and thalamus (TH), components of cortico-striato-thalamic-circuit affected in Tourette-Syndrome (TS), 15 children with TS underwent AMT-PET and DT-MRI scans. Eigenvalues, FA, ADC, linear, planar, and spherical (Cs) indices were obtained. Coregistration of both scans was performed to delineate those structures. Pearson-correlation analyses of the asymmetry index (AI) of AMT and DTI showed negative correlation between AMT and FA (r= -0.744;p=0.001) and positive correlation between AMT and Cs (r=0.594;p=0.019) in CN, but none in TH. Our findings will help to track neuronal/axonal/dendritical changes and to obtain a better understanding of TS.