Tics: When Habit-Forming Neural Systems Form Habits of Their Own

Abstract

Tourette’s syndrome (TS) is a model developmental psychopathological disorder that has the potential to illuminate aspects of how the brain selects and maintains perceptual-emotive-cognitive-action sequences. This chapter reviews aspects of the phenomenology, neuropsychology, and natural history of TS in light of emerging knowledge concerning the role of the basal ganglia and related cortical and thalamic sites in the formation and timing of habits and other goal-directed behaviors. Advances in developmental and systems neuroscience combined with the advent of noninvasive functional brain imaging techniques make this a propitious time to study TS.