Tics or Tourette? 

Tourette syndrome (TS)

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is characterized by the presence of motor tics and at least one vocal tic. Tics develop during childhood and persist throughout life to varying degrees of perception. TS is often associated with other manifestations such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), attention difficulties, learning difficulties, behaviour problems (hyperactivity, aggressiveness, explosive crisis) or sensory defenses that interfere with functioning educational and social situations of the person affected.

Tics are semi-involuntary, repetitive contractions of muscles, resulting in simple movements expressed over a short period of time (milliseconds) such as blinking of the eyes, tightening of the cheeks, movement of the head or a shrug of the shoulder. Tics can also be more complex contractions of a longer duration (seconds to minutes) of several muscle groups such as hopping, contact with certain objects or people, grimaces, abdominal spasms, tapping, muscle movements. extension of the arms or legs, shoulder movements in sequence, copropraxia (involuntarily performing gestures of a sexual or obscene nature) or echokinesis (imitation of a gesture). Vocal tics can also be simple (eg, coughing) or complex such as echolalia (repeating sentences) (1).

Common symptoms

Simple tics:

Motor: blinking, jumping, shrugging, grimacing, etc.

Vocal: coughing, barking, snorting, clicking your tongue, etc.

Complex tics:

Motor: jumping, touching other people or things, feeling, doing pirouettes, etc.

Vocal: pronouncing ordinary words or expressions out of context, echolalia (repeating a sound, word or expression that you have just heard) and, in rare cases, coprolalia (pronouncing words unacceptable in society) (2 ).

Assessment and intervention:

The diagnosis of TS is made from the clinical history of the tics. However, a judicious evaluation of neuropsychological functioning makes it possible to confirm the presence of other associated deficits (intellectual functioning, verbal and visual reasoning, attention, executive functions, motor skills, etc.). To do this, neuropsychologists, in addition to the cognitive tasks administered during the evaluation, attach great importance to the interview conducted with the individual or the parents during which they collect all the information concerning the developmental history and the appearance of motor and vocal tics.

References : 

1. Tourette, Association québécoise du syndrome de la. Understanding the behavioural symptoms of Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome. The syndrome (SGT) explained. [Online] [Citation: June 15, 2020.] https://aqst.com/index.php/syndrome-de-la-tourette/definition.

2. The syndrome (SGT) explained. Quebec Association of Tourette Syndrome. [Online] [Citation: 06 15 2020.] https://aqst.com/index.php/syndrome-de-la-tourette/definition.