ArticlePLoS computational biology2017
Dysfunctions of the basal ganglia-cerebellar-thalamo-cortical system produce motor tics in Tourette syndrome.
Article in PLoS computational biology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 109 citations in OpenAlex.
- Functional neuroimaging in patients with catatonia: A systematic review.Journal of psychosomatic research · 2024Pooled it
- Efficacy of differential reinforcement of other behaviors therapy for tic disorder: a meta-analysis.BMC neurology · 2024Pooled it
- Altered brain connectivity in hyperkinetic movement disorders: A review of resting-state fMRI.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2023Pooled it
- Investigating Shared Genetic Basis Across Tourette Syndrome and Comorbid Neurodevelopmental Disorders Along the Impulsivity-Compulsivity Spectrum.Biological psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Gray matter abnormalities in Tourette Syndrome: a meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry studies.Translational psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Tourette syndrome research highlights from 2017.F1000Research · 2018Pooled it
- Effects of acupuncture combined with bone-setting therapy to treat tourette syndrome: a three-arm randomized controlled trial.Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan · 2025Trial
- Tourette syndrome.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2026Review
- Contemporary Perspectives on Neurobiology and Treatment of Tic Disorders: A Narrative Review.Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2026Article
- A Multimodal Single-Cell Epigenomic and 3D Genome Atlas of the Human Basal Ganglia.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Tics, Tourette's and Related Muscle Pain in Children: A Review.Muscles (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Consensus Paper: Models of Cerebellar Functions.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2026Review
- Simple and Complex Phonic Tics in Tourette Syndrome.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- The three clap test: a window into cognitive and frontal lobe dysfunction.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2025Review
- The role of the prefrontal cortex in cocaine-induced noradrenaline release in the nucleus accumbens: a computational study.Biological cybernetics · 2025Article
- Prolonged screen time is associated with increased severity of tic symptoms in children with tic disorders.Italian journal of pediatrics · 2025Article
- Cerebellar-cerebral circuits functional connectivity in patients with cognitive impairment after basal ganglia stroke: a pilot study.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Article
- Abnormalities of iron homeostasis and the dopaminergic system in Tourette syndrome revealed by 7T MRI and PET.Brain communications · 2025Article
- Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging Tractography Guides Investigation of the Zona Incerta: A Novel Target for Deep Brain Stimulation.Biological psychiatry · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Motor tics are a cardinal feature of Tourette syndrome and are traditionally associated with an excess of striatal dopamine in the basal ganglia. Recent evidence increasingly supports a more articulated view where cerebellum and cortex, working closely in concert with basal ganglia, are also involved in tic production. Building on such evidence, this article proposes a computational model of the basal ganglia-cerebellar-thalamo-cortical system to study how motor tics are generated in Tourette syndrome. In particular, the model: (i) reproduces the main results of recent experiments about the involvement of the basal ganglia-cerebellar-thalamo-cortical system in tic generation; (ii) suggests an explanation of the system-level mechanisms underlying motor tic production: in this respect, the model predicts that the interplay between dopaminergic signal and cortical activity contributes to triggering the tic event and that the recently discovered basal ganglia-cerebellar anatomical pathway may support the involvement of the cerebellum in tic production; (iii) furnishes predictions on the amount of tics generated when striatal dopamine increases and when the cortex is externally stimulated. These predictions could be important in identifying new brain target areas for future therapies. Finally, the model represents the first computational attempt to study the role of the recently discovered basal ganglia-cerebellar anatomical links. Studying this non-cortex-mediated basal ganglia-cerebellar interaction could radically change our perspective about how these areas interact with each other and with the cortex. Overall, the model also shows the utility of casting Tourette syndrome within a system-level perspective rather than viewing it as related to the dysfunction of a single brain area.
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