Altered event-related synchronisation and desynchronisation in patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome

Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterised by multiple motor and vocal tics. In healthy subjects self-paced voluntary movements are accompanied by a modulation of cortical rhythms of the primary sensorimotor cortex indicated by event-related desynchronisation (ERD) and event related synchronisation (ERS). ERD has been associated with an increased excitability of the primary sensorimotor cortex, whereas ERS may represent cortical deactivation. In the present study we addressed the question of whether cortical excitability is altered during preparation and execution of volunt…