Neuropsychological correlates of obsessive characteristics in Tourette syndrome

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.