J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 1991; 3:157-162
Copyright © 1991 by American Neuropsychiatric Association
Neuropsychological correlates of obsessive characteristics in Tourette syndrome
RA Bornstein
Neuropsychology Laboratory, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210.
The relationship between obsessive-compulsive (OC) characteristics and
performance on a test sensitive to frontal lobe function (Wisconsin Card
Sorting Test) was examined in a sample of 100 patients between the ages of
6 and 18 years. All patients met DSM-III-R criteria for Tourette syndrome
(TS), confirmed by a neurologist or psychiatrist. Performance on the
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test was correlated with ratings of OC
characteristics, but not with other TS symptoms. This relationship was
maintained even when Full-Scale IQ and the total number of Tourette
symptoms were controlled. The effect could not be attributed to medication.
These findings were interpreted in the context of models of basal
ganglia-cortical associations. It was speculated that different symptoms
associated with TS may have different neuroanatomic substrates.
