Somatosensory Processing in Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome

In Tourette syndrome, premonitory urges preceding tics play a prominent role, e.g., as an urge to perform a certain action, but also as a cold or warm feeling, the feeling of a mounting tension in the muscles involved in tics or other unpleasant perceptions. The execution of tics results in a temporary reduction of these feelings. Additionally, there is a hypersensitivity to external stimuli and a high level of distractibility. In corroboration of these findings, adolescent Tourette patients show a thinning of the primary somatosensory cortex and secondary somatosensory areas. Also, reduced prepulse inhibition and reductions of short afferent inhibition provide further evidence for deficient inhibitory and gating functions in Tourette patients.