Impaired automatic but intact volitional inhibition in primary tic disorders.

ABSTRACT: The defining character of tics is that they can be transiently suppressed by volitional effort of will, and at a behavioural level this has led to the concept that tics result from a failure of inhibition. However, this logic conflates the mechanism responsible for the production of tics with that used in suppressing them. Volitional inhibition of motor output could be increased to prevent the tic from reaching the threshold for expression, although this has been extensively investigated with conflicting results. Alternatively, automatic inhibition could prevent the initial excitation of the striatal tic focus-a hypothesis we have previously introduced. To reconcile these competing hypotheses, we examined different types of motor inhibition in a group of 19 patients with primary tic disord

SUBMITTER: Rawji V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7089661 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature