Sensory and sensorimotor gating deficits characterize both Tourette syndrome (TS) and schizophrenia. Premonitory urges (PU) in TS can be assessed with the University of Sao Paulo Sensory Phenomena Scale (USP-SPS) and the Premonitory Urge for Tics Scale (PUTS). In 40 subjects (TS: n = 18; healthy comparison subjects [HCS]: n = 22), we examined the relationship between PU scores and measures of s...

The author, a graduate student with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome, proposes that pre-tic sensory experiences result from a specific attentional deficit. Based on his own introspective case study, the author argues that the premonitory urges that precede tics are not unique sensory events, but rather are manifestations of somatosensory hyperawareness which serves as the aversive stimulus towa...

Abstract Joni Mitchell's life was completely transformed in 1965–67: She became pregnant, abandoned by the child's father, gave birth to her daughter, placed baby for adoption, married and subsequently divorced Chuck Mitchell, moved between several cities North America. In this article, I center often overlooked period of Joni's life—which she herself has referred as “this three-year childhood'...