A nerve network covering several brain areas was identified during treatment with a brain pacemaker.
A research team at the Berlin University Hospital Charité has identified a nerve structure in the brain identified, which seems to play an important role in the development of tic disorders. As reported by the Charité, the experts came across a brain-spanning nerve network when analyzing patients in whom the disorder had been triggered by injuries.
“In recent years, neurological research has expanded into various areas of the brain identified that play a role in tics,” says the last author of the study, Dr. Andreas Horn. He explains: “However, it remained unclear: which of these brain areas trigger the tics? Which ones are active instead to compensate for faulty processes? We have now been able to show that it is not a single brain region that causes the behavioral disorders. Instead, tics are due to malfunctions in a network of different areas in the brain.”
This fashion trend will play with our brains in 2022
When Tics are understood in the medical sense of suddenly shooting movements that are not (or only with difficulty) controllable by those affected (e.g. winking, pulling faces, etc.) and/or vocalizations (throat, cough, simple loud or whole words or sentences) that repeat irregularly. It is only in rare cases that the “known” swear words are used.
The tics usually begin in elementary school age, but can also occur much earlier or later. In many cases, the disease is accompanied by other behavioral problems such as fears and compulsions, ADHD or depression, the social exclusion of those affected is a frequent consequence. One of the most well-known tic disorders is Tourette’s syndrome, in which various vocal and motor tics occur together.
If the tic disorder is very severe, medication can be used. Otherwise, forms of therapy such as psychoeducation, relaxation exercises and behavioral therapy support are in the foreground.
deep brain stimulation
The subsequent examination of other patients who are already being treated with a brain pacemaker because of a tic disorder also revealed a connection to this neural network. The more precisely the electrodes were placed on the network, the more the electrical stimulation from the pacemakers reduced the symptoms. The ones in the trade magazine Brain published findings might lay the basis for better therapy for severe tic disorders.
“People with severe tic disorders apparently benefit most when deep brain stimulation is aimed at the tic network,” says Associate Professor Dr. Christos Ganos, first author of the study and senior medical director of the outpatient clinic for tic disorders at the Department of Neurology with Experimental Neurology. “In the future, we will incorporate this new finding into the treatment of our patients by taking the tic network into account when implanting the brain pacemaker. We hope that in this way we can alleviate the really high level of suffering for those affected even better, to enable them to lead a largely self-determined and socially fulfilling life.”
How microplastics get into your brain and the consequences
Case histories pointed the way
The researchers got on the trail of this structure through a detailed analysis of previously published case histories of 22 sufferers in whom tic disorders were caused by damage to the brain substance, for example as a result of accidents or strokes had been triggered. This is a rather rare cause. They found that the injured areas almost always belong to a specific nerve plexus in the brain brain belonged.
