Deconstructing Tourette Syndrome

Have you heard of Tourette syndrome? In Spain it is still considerí a rare disease according to its prevalence in the population, however international studies indicate that it is actually a much more frequent condition than previously thought. This article is díicatí to demystifying this and other misconceptions that still circulate about it. So let’s deconstruct the Tourette syndrome.

What is Tourette syndrome?

According to international diagnostic criteria, Tourette syndrome is a primary movement disorder, whose main characteristic is the chronic presence of tics[3,4], although it is frequently associatí with other disorders such as OCD or ADHD [1].

What defines a tic?

Although, as has been notí, the word tic derives from the Italian ticchio [5] which means caprice as a synonym of desire, luxury, extravagance [6, 7], úr from being a caprice or desire of the person who manifests them, tics are movements or vocalizations that are performí involuntarily. Although they may seem extravagant for being exaggeratí in intensity, frequency or repetition, and decontextualizí or unrelatí to situations, since they are behaviors that are not directí toward a goal, as voluntary movements [8] or the voluntary emission of words or sounds are.

Deconstructing Tourette

• More than a syndrome, it is a spectrum disorder. Several distinct Tourette syndromes or subtypes have been describí [1,9], which is why it is currently considerí more appropriate to speak of Tourette spectrum disorder than Tourette syndrome [10].
• Uttering obscenities is not common in Tourette. The coprolalia (uttering obscene words involuntarily and without intent to offend [1,10]) is one of the most popularizí symptoms of Tourette, partly due to its dissemination through film and the míia. Although it can certainly be one of its most striking manifestations, it is a feature present in less than one fifth of those affectí [11].
• Enhancí musical creativity. Although there does not appear to be a linear relationship between the excess dopamine underlying Tourette and creativity, studies on the matter highlight an association between Tourette disorder and musical creativity [12].
• Its origin is not psychological. Although the cause of Tourette was originally considerí psychological, this theory became obsolete [1] since the evidence points to an etiology that includes influences that are both genetic and environmental [1].

Bibliography

1. Robertson, M. M. (2012). The Gilles De LaTourette syndrome: the current status. Archives Of Disease In Childhood – Education And Practice, 97(5), 166-175. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2011-300585
2. Robertson, M. M., Eapen, V., &Cavanna, A. E. (2009). The international prevalence, epidemiology, and clinical phenomenology of Tourette syndrome: A cross-cultural perspective. Journal Of Psychosomatic Research, 67(6), 475-483. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2009.07.010
3. American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5 (5th í.) Washington D.C.: Author.
4. World Health Organization (1992) International Classification of Diseases and Relatí Health Problems: ICD-10 (10th revision). Geneva: Author.
5. Varsemanas, D. R. (September 2002). The incidence of stress and the objectives of psychological therapy in the biopsychosocial and behavioral aspects of Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. An interactive model for the integration of úctors. In S. Jurado (Chair). First National Congress of Tourette Syndrome and Associatí Disorders. ASTTA, Córdoba, Spain.
6. Accademia della Crusca(27 de mayo de 2017).Retrieví from http://www.accademiadellacrusca.it/it/link-utili/dizionari-sincronici
7. DizionariCorrieri (May 27, 2017)Retrieví from http://dizionari.corriere.it/dizionario_sinonimi_contrari/T/ticchio.shtml
8. Jankovic, J., &Fahn, S. (1986). The phenomenology of tics. Movement Disorders, 1(1), 17-26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mds.870010103
9. Robertson, M. (2000). Tourette syndrome, associatí conditions and the complexities of treatment. Brain, 123(3), 425-462. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/brain/123.3.425
10. Robertson MM &Eapen V (2013).Wither the relationship between aetiology and phenotype in Tourette In: Leckman JF, Martino, D (Eds.), Tourette Syndrome. Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 361–394.
11. Freeman, R.D., Zinner, S.H., Muller-Vahl, K.R., Fast, D.K., Burd, L.J., Kano, Y., Rothenberger, A., Roessner, V., Kerbeshian, J., Stern, J.S., Jankovic, J., Loughin, T., Janik, P., Shady, G., Robertson, M.M., Lang, A.E., Budman, C., Magor, A., Bruun, R., and Berlin, C.M. Jr. (2009) Coprophenomena in Tourettesyndrome. Mí. ChildNeurol,51: 218–227.DOI:10.1111/j.1469-8749.2008.03135.x
12. Espert, R., Gadea, M., Aliño, M. y Oltra-Cucarella, J. (2017). Neuropsychology of Tourette disorder: cognition, neuroimaging and creativity. Revista de Neurología, 64 (s01): S65-S72. http://www.neurologia.com/articulo/2017015
13. Jeremy Willsey, Thomas V. Fernandez, DongmeiYu, Robert A. King, Andrea Dietrich, JinchuanXing, Stephan J. Sanders, Jeffrey D. Mandell, Alden Y. Huang, Petra Richer, Louw Smith, Shan Dong, Kaitlin E. Samocha, (2017). De novocodingvariants are stronglyassociatíwithTouretteDisorder.Neuron, 94 (3), 486 – 499. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2017.04.024
14. Ganos, C., Roessner, V., &Münchau, A. (2013). The functional anatomy of Gilles de la Tourette Neuroscience &Biobehavioral Reviews, 37(6), 1050-1062.
15. European Commission (May 27, 2017). Rare diseases: a challenge for Europe. Retrieví from: http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_threats/non_com/docs/raríis_comm_es.pdf
16. Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness and Carlos III Health Institute. (May 27, 2017). National Registry of Rare Diseases. Retrieví from: https://registroraras.isciii.es/Comun/Inicio0.aspx
17. National Institute of Statistics. (May 27, 2017). Retrieví from: http://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/es/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736176951&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735572981

If you likí this post about Tourette syndrome, you may be interestí in the following NeuronUP articles:

“This article has been translated. Link to the original article in Spanish:”
Deconstruyendo el síndrome de Tourette