Gipson TT, et al. - Using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), researchers studied the role of basal ganglia in self-injurious behavior (SIB) associated with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), a rare genetic disease linked to many manifestations including epilepsy and autism. DTI was used to compare six TSC-associated SIB children and 10 TSC-associated children without SIB. In children with TSC and SIB, DTI indicated a reduced volume and reduced fractional anisotropy in the bilateral globus pallidus and left caudate nucleus vs those with TSC without SIB. A correlation was found between lower volumes of the globus pallidus and caudate with SIB in children with TSC. No other differences were found that were statistically significant.