Validity of large-deformation high dimensional brain mapping of the basal ganglia in adults with Tourette syndrome.

The basal ganglia and thalamus may play a critical role for behavioral inhibition mediated by prefrontal, parietal, temporal, and cingulate cortices. The cortico-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical loop with projections from frontal cortex to striatum, then to globus pallidus or to substantia nigra pars reticulata, to thalamus and back to cortex, provides the anatomical substrate for this function. In-vivo neuroimaging studies have reported reduced volumes in the thalamus and basal ganglia in individuals with Tourette Syndrome (TS) when compared with healthy controls.

Abnormalities of thalamic volume and shape in schizophrenia.

Objective: Postmortem and neuroimaging studies of schizophrenia have reported deficits in the volume of the thalamus and its component nuclei. However, the pattern of shape change associated with such volume loss has not been investigated. In this study, alterations in thalamic volume, shape, and symmetry were compared in subjects with and without schizophrenia.