The Neuroscience of the Tourette Syndrome Spectrum

Extract

This is the second installment of a double issue on Tourette syndrome (TS) for CNS Spectrums. This issue highlights recent research findings in the field and provides a state-of-the art update on the relationship between TS and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), as well as on the genetics, functional imaging and neurocircuitry, and neuropathology of TS.

I would again like to express my appreciation to the guest editor of this superb issue—Neal Swerdlow, MD, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry at University of California, San Diego, and scientific director of the Tourette Syndrome Association (TSA)—as well as Sue Levi-Pearl of the TSA.

The issue begins with a first-person account of TS by Major League baseball player Jim Eisenreich. His .300 lifetime batting average in professional baseball is a reflection of the superior focus he achieves in sports. In his work as a spokesman on behalf of TS, he serves as a role model, and his work will certainly help to raise awareness about TS so that others may avoid his experience of a 17-year gap between onset of symptoms and correct diagnosis.