***Apologies for multiple postings***

Reminder of the Cognitive Area Seminar this week:

Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome and chronic tic disorders: Evaluation and treatment from a psychophysiological perspective

Marc E. Lavoie, Ph.D Associate Professor Director of the Cognitive and Social Psychophysiology Laboratory Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Montréal Department of Psychiatry & Department of Neuroscience, University of Montréal

(see below for abstract)

Friday, December 4th, 15h30-17h00 Stewart Biology Building, S 3/4

Please forward this message to your students and other interested parties. Thanks,

Esther

Full Info on Dr. Lavoie's talk: Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome and chronic tic disorders: Evaluation and treatment from a psychophysiological perspective

Marc E. Lavoie, Ph.D Associate Professor Director of the Cognitive and Social Psychophysiology Laboratory Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Montréal Department of Psychiatry & Department of Neuroscience, University of Montréal Background. Cognitive neuroscience and psychology was often considered as separate entities, or even divergent in some respects. Recently, the walls between these two approaches are subsiding. It is now well established that the adult brain has intrinsic ability to remodel synaptic connections. Our research aims to investigate this phenomenon of brain plasticity in the context of a psychological intervention in tic disorders. Tic disorders, such as the Gilles de la Tourette syndrome and persistent tic disorder, are neurodevelopmental movement disorders involving impaired motor control such as repetitive unwanted muscular contractions in one or more parts of the body. Our data showed that, following a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), a normalization of specific types of brain activity was present following an improvement in symptoms. A CBT, with a particular emphasis on the psychophysiology of tic expression and sensorimotor activation, can reduce the frequency and intensity of tics. However, its impact on motor activation and inhibition is not fully understood. Objective: The current talk will present the broad lines of the historical context, the clinical definition and the semiology of the Tourette syndrome. The second part will introduce our research program, as well as a methodology for the integration of electrophysiological methods in the treatment and evaluation of symptoms related to chronic tics. Methods. We will mainly present our recent findings that focused on the impact of a cognitive-behavioural therapy on electrocortical activation. To do that, the event-related potentials (ERP) and lateralized readiness potentials (LRP) were recorded before and after treatment, of 20 patients with tic disorders and 20 healthy control participants (matched on age, sex and intelligence), during a stimulus-response compatibility inhibition task. The cognitive-behavioural therapy included informational, awareness training, relaxation, muscle discrimination, cognitive restructuration and relapse prevention strategies. Results. Our results revealed that prior to treatment; tic patients had delayed stimulus-locked LRP onset latency, larger response-locked LRP peak amplitude, and a frontal overactivation during stimulus inhibition processing. Both stimulus-locked LRP onset latency and response-locked LRP peak amplitude normalized after the cognitive behavioural therapy completion. However, the frontal overactivation related to inhibition remained unchanged following therapy. Discussion. The overactivity of the frontal LPC and the impulsivity in observed in patients were not affected by treatment. However, CBT had normalizing effects on the activation of the LRP that reflects pre-motor and motor cortex activation. These results imply specific modifications of motor processes following therapy, while inhibition processes remained unchanged. Given that LRPs are partially generated within the sensorimotor and supplementary motor area, the reported reduction in tic frequency and improvements of LRPs components suggest that CBT induced a physiological change in patients' motor area. The originality of our results support, singularly, the presence of a measurable electrocortical change following these cognitive and behavioral modification.

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