Tourette’s syndrome is a complex, heritable, childhood neuropsychiatric disorder with a gradual decline of symptom severity entering into adulthood and is characterized by the presence of multiple motor and vocal tics. TS has dramatic social impacts on the patient ranging from self-esteem to social acceptance issues. With a prevalence rate of 1% in the general population, more research needs to be conducted in order to find underlying mechanisms at play and to provide better treatment options so that patients may lead better social and academic outcomes and in general improve their overall quality of life.[1]
|
Table of Contents |
Neurochemistry of Tourette's Syndrome
main article: Neurochemistry of Tourette's Syndrome
author: Saba Sojoodi
| Gilles de la Tourette |
 |
| Tourette's syndrome is a neurological disorder that has been around since 15th century. However, it was not until 1885 that the disorder was characterized by Gilles de la Tourette. [1] |
Given its complex nature, it’s likely that Tourett's Syndrome involves a dysfunction in more than one neurotransmitter in the movement-related brain circuits however, since dopamine is a major player in the control of motor function, temporal processing, reward learning and response inhibition, the proposed dopaminergic hypothesis for Tourette's Syndrome should be further investigated.[1] Research suggests that dopamine neurotransmission may be the pathological abnormality at the level of the cortico–striato–thalami–cortical (CSTC) circuit however a primary defect has not yet been localized to the striatum, palladium, thalamus or cortex.[2] Factors contributing to abnormal dopamine neurotransmission include: supersensitive dopamine receptors, dopamine hyper-innervation, abnormal presynaptic terminal function or excess dopamine release.[1]