Premonitory sensory phenomenon in Tourette's syndrome

✍ Scribed by Carolyn Kwak; Kevin Dat Vuong; Joseph Jankovic

• Book ID: 102507661
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 60 KB
• Volume: 18
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-3185
• DOI: 10.1002/mds.10618

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

We administered a questionnaire designed to probe for premonitory sensations associated with motor tics to 50 patients with Tourette's syndrome (TS). Premonitory sensations were reported by 46 (92%) patients, and the most common sensation was an urge to move and an impulse to tic (“had to do it”). Intensification of premonitory sensations, if prevented from performing a motor tic, was reported also in 37 patients (74%), 36 patients (72%) reported relief of premonitory sensations after performing the tic, and 27 of 40 (68%) described a motor tic as a voluntary motor response to an involuntary sensation, rather than a completely involuntary movement. The “just right” sensation correlated with the presence of co‐morbid obsessive‐compulsive disorder. We conclude that premonitory sensations are an important aspect of motor tics and some patients perceive motor tics as a voluntary movement in response to an involuntary sensation. © 2003 Movement Disorder Society