Sustained effects of a neural-based intervention in a refractory case of Tourette syndrome

[Letter to the editor]
There are only a few treatments available for Tourette syndrome
(TS). These treatments frequently do notwork in patients with moderate
to severe TS [1]. Neuroimaging studies show a correlation between
tics severity and increased activation over motor pathways,
along with reduced activation over the control areas of the
cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuits [2]. Moreover, the temporal
pattern of tic generation suggests that cortical activation especially
in the SMA precedes subcortical activation [3]. Following this
assumption, here we explored the brain effects of 10-daily sessions
of cathodal transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) delivered
over the pre-SMA in a patient with refractory and severe TS and also
assessed whether those changes were long lasting (up to 6 months).
Study funding: This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science
and Technology (FCT) with two individual grants (SFRH/BPD/86041/2012 and SFRH/BPD/86027/2012).Disclosure: The authors report no disclosures relevant to the
manuscript.