Tourette’s Disorder

Tourette’s disorder, sometimes known as Tourette syndrome, is a neurodevelopmental disorder with onset in childhood that involves multiple motor tics and at least one vocal tic. Motor tics are brief, involuntary, and repetitive movements, such as blinking, head shaking, or shoulder shrugging. Verbal tics are involuntary vocalizations that can be noises or words. Premonitory sensory urges, which are sensations that an action or vocalization must occur, are characteristic of the condition and precede tics. Tourette’s disorder is often associated with other psychiatric conditions, typically obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This entry describes the clinical and pathophysiological characteristics of Tourette’s disorder, genetic and environmental factors, and diagnosis and treatment.