Tics and Tourette Syndrome: Phenomenology

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a common neurologic and behavioral disorder, primarily characterized by the presence of motor and phonic tics. Tics are defined as brief and involuntary movements or sounds, often preceded by a premonitory sensation or urge. Some motor tics may be quite complex and phonic tics may manifest as semantically meaningful utterances, including profanities and obscenities (coprolalia). The natural history of TS is a waxing and waning course with reduction in symptom severity in adulthood in majority of cases. Common behavioral comorbidities include obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention-deficit disorder, and impulse control disorder.