A 31-year-old Chinese man with intractable severe, lifelong Tourette's syndrome characterised by forceful self-injurious motor tics and socially embarrassing vocal tics was treated with bilateral deep brain stimulation. Electrodes were implanted into the thalamic targets at the centromedian-parafascicular complex according to Hassler's nomenclature. A dramatic reduction of tics resulted. At 18 ...

Tics are defined, rather vaguely, in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) nosology as a recurrent, non-rhythmic series of movements (of a non-voluntary nature) in one or several muscle groups. Tics are usually divided into simple and complex tics of a motor, sensory, phonic or cognitive nature. In practice, simple tics have t...

Accumulating evidence supports the notion that thyroid cancer is initiated by tumor-initiating cells (TICs) (commonly known as cancer stem cells), which are thought to play a crucial role in malignant progression, therapeutic resistance and recurrence. Thyroid TICs have been isolated and identified using specific biomarkers (such as CD133), the side population, sphere formation and aldehyde deh...

OBJECTIVE To explore if self-reported presence of thinking about tics or body-focused repetitive behaviours (BFRBs; gests) are direct triggers of tic or gest onset in 3 groups: Tourette syndrome (TS; n =18), persistent chronic tic disorders (TDs; n = 42), and a comparison group with BFRB (n = 36). METHOD The 3 groups completed a thinking about tics inventory, listing 22 items derived from cli...

Tumor initiating cells (TICs) serve as the root of tumor growth. After identifying TICs in spontaneous breast tumors of the MMTV-Wnt1 mouse model, we confirmed the specific expression and activation of Yes-associated protein 1 (Yap1) within TICs. To investigate the role of Yap1 in the self-renewal of breast TICs and the underlying mechanism, we sorted CD49fhighEpCAMlow cells as breast TICs. Act...

We report a six year-old asthmatic male who developed transient motor tics, possibly secondary to his use of fluticasone propionate (fluticasone). At this particular clinic visit, the mother reported that the patient had begun using fluticasone 50 mcg two puffs b.i.d. for the last four months. The motor tics began to appear about two months after he began the fluticasone, and continued througho...

BACKGROUND Tics are involuntary, brief, stereotyped motor and vocal behaviors often associated with irresistible urges. They are a defining symptom of the classic neuropsychiatric disorder, Tourette syndrome (TS), and constitute an example of disordered human volition. The neural correlates of tics are not well understood and have not been imaged selectively. METHODS Event-related [(15)O]H(2)...

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a chronic neurologic disorder characterized by the childhood onset of multiple motor and phonic tics that wax and wanes over time [1]. The syndrome is common (1%) and the aetiology is complex (mostly genetic) and 90% of people have co-morbid psychiatric disorders and reduced quality of life [2]. In facts Tourette syndrome is the most common cause of tics. Other tic dis...

For over three decades, there has been an intriguing association between transient tics, tic disorders and ADHD. One of the most compelling findings is that about half of the children with Tourette’s syndrome also have ADHD (Allen et al., 2005). In addition, a history of tic disorders or transient tics has been observed in approximately 27% of children with ADHD (Gualtieri and Patterson, 1986)....

Tics are intermittent, repetitive, patterned but usually nonrhythmic motor movements or sounds performed in response to urges or involuntarily. They are the cardinal symptom required for a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of Tourette's disorder (TD). Many children with TD present with mild tics that cause no significant impairment. However, when tics cause pain or interference, medical treatment is reasonab...