Capturing Subtle Neurocognitive Differences in Children with and without Tourette Syndrome through a Fine-Grained Analysis of Design Fluency Profiles

Abstract

Background: Tourette syndrome (TS) can be accompanied by neurocognitive impairment. Only a few studies have focused on executive function assessment in TS using design fluency, providing preliminary results. This study aimed to characterize the detailed design fluency profile of children with TS compared with neurotypical children, while addressing the central concern of frequent comorbidities in studies on TS by considering tic severity and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and diagnosis. Methods: Sixty-one children aged between 6 and 15 years participated and were divided into a TS group (n = 28 (with ADHD n = 15)) and a control group (n = 33). Our objective was addressed by examining a wide range of measures of the Five-Point-Test, presumably sensitive to frontostriatal dysfunction. The total number of designs, repetitions, repetition ratio, unique designs, and numerical, spatial, and total strategies were examined for the total duration of the test (global measures) and at five equal time intervals (process measures). Results: The TS group produced significantly fewer numerical strategies. Groups did not differ in other global or process measures. ADHD did not affect performance. Conclusions: Children with TS do not inherently show general executive dysfunction but may present with subtle neurocognitive characteristics here revealed by comprehensive design fluency profiles.

Tourette syndrome research highlights from 2022

“…Tessier and colleagues compared the design fluency profile of children with TS with matched healthy controls ( Tessier et al . 2022 ).…”

Co-Occurrence of Tic Disorders and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder—Does It Reflect a Common Neurobiological Background?

“…Patients with TD, ADHD, and TD + ADHD have problems with controlling their movements in line with the hypothesis of impaired motor inhibition in TD, ADHD, and TD + ADHD [ 82 ]. Pure neuropsychological studies with, for example, Flanker or stop tasks (e.g., [ 83 , 84 , 85 ] only allow indirect conclusions about the underlying neuronal processes in contrast to using neurophysiological concepts such as EEG oscillations and event-related potentials (ERPs), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) paradigms, or fMRI connectivity measured either at rest or during the execution of a task.…”