SELECTIVE IMPAIRMENTS OF MEMORY FUNCTIONING IN UNMEDICATED ADULTS WITH GILLES-DE-LA-TOURETTES SYNDROME

Different forms of memory linked to specific brain regions were assess ed in unmedicated adults with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome (TS) an d in normal controls of equivalent age and educational attainment. TS patients were impaired on measures of strategic, working, and procedur al memory associated with fronto-striatal function. In contrast, their performance was intact on measures of immediate, semantic, and declar ative memory associated with temporal-diencephalic functioning. These findings are consistent with radiological evidence of fronto-striatal abnormalities in TS and provide convergent evidence that a fronto-stri atal memory system mediates working memory in humans.