Tourette Syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by tics. Tics are repetitive, involuntary movements and vocalizations. The types and severity of tics are variable and can include eye blinking, shoulder shrugging, throat clearing , yelping, and hitting oneself. Symptoms are first noticed in childhood. Many children with Tourette Syndrome experience behavioral problems due to hyperactivity, attention problems, and obsessive compulsive disorder. In Tourette Syndrome tics are generally most severe in the early teen years and may lessen in severity, sometimes disappearing, in adulthood.
The Tourette Syndrome Association International Consortium for Genetics recently complete a genome scan of over 2000 individuals and 238 families that provided evidence for a genetically complex contribution including several chromosomal regions.
The NINDS Repository is supporting high throughput human genetics to solve this complex disorder by banking Tourette Syndrome subjects. The Repository will also include in the collection unaffected ("At Risk") and affected blood relatives of subjects, spouses (spousal controls), and normal healthy individuals (including population and convenience controls).
