Inhibitory Control on a Stop Signal Task in Tourette Syndrome before and after Deep Brain Stimulation of the Internal Segment of the Globus Pallidus

As part of the first randomized double-blind trial of deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the globus pallidus (GPi) in Tourette syndrome, we examined the effect of stimulation on response initiation and inhibition. A total of 14 patients with severe Tourette syndrome were recruited and tested on the stop signal task prior to and after GPi-DBS surgery and compared to eight age-matched healthy controls. Tics were significantly improved following GPi-DBS. The main measure of reactive inhibition, the stop signal reaction time did not change from before to after surgery and did not differ from that of healthy controls either before or after GPi-DBS surgery. This suggests that patients with Tourette syndrome have normal reactive inhibition which is not significantly altered by GPi-DBS.