Tourettes Syndrome and the :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Tourettes Syndrome and the I Function Tourettes syndrome is characterized by a presentation of verbal and motor tics. The branch descriptions of the syndrome, involving symptoms similar to Tourettes, were reported in the nineteenth century. For most of the twentieth century TS was thought to be a psychiatric disorder because of the ability the patients had to suppress their tics. In the past twenty years more biological factors have been introduced in the study of the syndrome, arising from the use of pharmacological treatment and the discovery of hereditary patterns of the disorder. In the diagnosing of Tourettes Syndrome the concept of involuntary tics has become hard to define. Many patients experience a volitional aspect of the tics, a capitulation to an internal urge for motor degrade accompanied by psychological tension and anxiety Patients who be afflicted with Tourettes syndrome can only describe their symptoms by using terms associated with the I function, the intelligen ce of self and relation to ones environment, and many of their symptoms are associated with or affect the function of their self. This can imply that what ever is causing the symptoms of Tourettes is subsequently affecting the part of the nauseating system that controls the self and the I function.Most of the studies done on the neuropathology of Tourettes syndrome (TS) have been focus on the basal ganglia, a group of nuclei located mostly in the diencephelon of the brain, a region beneath the cortex. This area has been classically associated with involuntary movement and tic disorders such as Parkinson and Huntingtons disease. The neural circuits formed by the basal ganglia and the thalamus are slender for normal function and hypothesized to be required for the planning of movement ranging from simple to complex. Though what these pathways actually do is still very vague the basal ganglia has been found, in normal circumstances, to exert an inhibitory influence on the thalamus. D isruption of this inhibition could correspond with TS in which the making of uncontrolled and unplanned movements are involve. There is test that patients with Tourettes syndrome have some structural abnormalities in the region of the basal ganglia, mainly TS patients showed a comparative size reduction in the basal ganglia.There are various different behaviors through which Tourettes syndrome presents itself. The diagnostic categories of TS depend on the presence of tics, alone, although patients with Tourette may have mental or behavioral disorders, which over shadow the inclementness or impairment on normal function of the tics.