Tourette syndrome

Tourette syndrome — also called Tourette's syndrome, Tourette Spectrum (TS), Tourette's disorder, or Gilles de la Tourette syndrome is a neurological or neurochemical disorder characterized by tics: involuntary, rapid, sudden movements or vocalizations that occur repeatedly in the same way. Symptoms include multiple motor and one or more vocal tics present at some time during the disorder although not necessarily simultaneously; the occurrence of tics many times a day (usually in bouts) nearly every day or intermittently throughout a span of more than one year; the periodic change in the number, frequency, type and location of the tics, and in the waxing and waning of their severity; symptoms disappearing for weeks or months at a time; and onset before the age of 18. Vocal tics may fall into various categories, including echolalia (the urge to repeat words spoken by someone else after being heard by the person with the disorder), palilalia (the urge to repeat one's own previously spoken words), lexilalia (the urge to repeat words after reading them) and, most controversially, coprolalia (the spontaneous utterance of socially objectionable words, such as obscenities and racial or ethnic slurs). There are many other vocal tics besides those categorized by word repetition - in fact, a TS tic can be almost any possible short vocal sound, with the most common tics resembling throat clearing, short coughs, grunts, or moans. Motor tics can be of endless variety and may include hand-clapping, banging the knuckles together, and contorted facial grimacing.

Related Topics:
Neurological - Neurochemical - Tic - Echolalia - Palilalia - Lexilalia - Coprolalia

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The eponym was bestowed by Jean-Martin Charcot after and on behalf of his resident,

Related Topics:
Eponym - Jean-Martin Charcot

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Georges Edouard Albert Brutus Gilles de la Tourette, (1859 - 1904), French physician and neurologist.

Related Topics:
Georges Edouard Albert Brutus Gilles de la Tourette - 1859 - 1904 - French

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The term "involuntary" used to describe TS tics is a source of confusion since it is known that most people with TS do have some control over the symptoms. Before tic onset, individuals with TS experience what is called a "premonitory urge," similar to the feeling that precedes yawning. What is recognized is that the control which can be exerted from seconds to hours at a time may merely postpone and exacerbate outbursts of symptoms. Tics are experienced as irresistible as a yawn and must eventually be expressed. People with TS often seek a secluded spot to release their symptoms after delaying them in school or at work. Typically, tics increase as a result of tension or stress (but are not caused by stress) and decrease with relaxation or concentration on an absorbing task. In fact, neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks has described a man with severe TS who is both a pilot and a surgeon.

Related Topics:
Stress - Oliver Sacks

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Other commonly associated disorders are obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Related Topics:
Obsessive-compulsive disorder - ADHD

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The entertainment industry has often depicted those with TS as being social misfits whose only tic is coprolalia, which has led to the general public's misunderstanding of TS sufferers as "people who can't help yelling swear words a lot". However, this is merely a clinomorphism, as coprolalia is a relatively rare symptom compared to other types of tics.

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