Why Tic Severity Changes from Then to Now and from Here to There

In our paper, “Why tic severity changes from then to now and from here to there“, we review the literature on situations that transiently worsen or improve tics. Interesting conclusions: (1) our interpretations of personal experience sometimes can mislead us, and (2) behavior therapies for tics use temporary effects on tics to effect lasting change. […]

New Online Study for Individuals With Tourettes

Our colleague, Stephen Jackson, is conducting an online study to study visual judgment in individuals with tic disorders such as Tourette Syndrome. Individuals WITHOUT a tic disorder are also welcome to take part. More information can be found at https://twitter.com/jackson684/status/1559531597216583680?s=20&t=Kjp6S-sbsv40z2kcB4t_IQ Click the link below to participate! https://t.co/IL8UGMjMv4

How many people would be interested in a commercial tic treatment device?

Neurotherapeutics Solutions Ltd., a start-up from our colleagues at the University of Nottingham (U.K.), is developing a wristwatch-like device for treating tics. Potential investors, however, tend to think that Tourette only affects kids, that only people with severe tics would want to buy such a device, and so on, so they figure the market would […]

TAA Teen Summit Opportunity-Deadline Extended to April 13

Friday, May 13, 2022, the Tourette Association of America (TAA) will be hosting the 2022 Teen Summit (Summit). This “in-person” Summit is a program with topics and speakers geared specifically to the needs and interests of teens living with TS. Attendees will connect with peers, learn from TS experts, and have meaningful discussion about topics […]

Distinguishing between compulsions and complex tics

The answer is not simple. Often the answer is obvious–always washing your hands 5 times is a compulsion. Yelling “What’s that?!” many times a day because it just feels like you have to is a complex tic. Even when the phenomenology is less classic, one can usually tell them apart by asking why the person […]

Prognosis of tic disorders

We summarized what is known about the course of tic disorders over time, including what we know about predicting outcome in individual patients. Last year we published a review article that summarizes what is known about the important and common question, “hey, doc, will the tics get worse or go away?” Some of this information […]

A new treatment for TS (kind of)

Here’s a press release from the UK national health authority describing very positive interim results of the ORBIT study in England. It provides the best evidence yet for the efficacy of a behavior therapy called exposure and response prevention (ERP) for tics. ERP has been around for a long time, and is still a first-line […]

New research on tic timing

Tics happen in a fractal time pattern, even only a few months after tics begin. New work from our lab confirms that tics happen in a time pattern that is fractal. We explain the meaning of those words, the results, and their possible implications on this page. A press release from Wash.U. is available here. […]

European Society for the Study of Tourette Syndrome (ESSTS) Meeting

Dates: June 9-11, 2022 Location: Lausanne, Switzerland Contact: administrator@essts.org; You can also follow Dr. Seonaid Anderson on Twitter @Seonaidanderso2 If you are a patient or representative of a tics or Tourette Syndrome patient association, you are welcome to come to the ESSTS European Society for the Study of Tourette Syndrome meeting on 9-11 JUNE 2022. […]