Tic Disorders and Tourette Syndrome Study Group

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Christos Ganos       Davide Martino
Chair                             Chair

MDS Staff Liaison: Finoula Harrington

About the Tic Disorders and Tourette Syndrome Study Group

Background

Tourette syndrome (TS) and tic disorders are an important area in the movement disorders sub-specialty. The complexity of the phenomenological spectrum and disease mechanisms of tic disorders continues to present remarkable challenges to the community of clinicians, clinical scientists and basic neuroscientists. Although significant progress has been made, TS and tic disorders still lack homogeneity of recognition and pathway of care organization across the regions of the globe. Part of this depends on the lack of focus on these conditions within an international scientific community that welcomes clinicians and scientists across different disciplines from all over the world. Joining efforts to reach consensus on the core pathophysiological mechanisms of tic disorders, enhancing the identification of biomarkers that would have rapid clinical application, investigating efficacy and safety of novel treatment approaches, and accelerating the journey towards personalized treatment plans by improving patient selection and increasing access to established treatments, represent the key elements of our vision on how to advance this field. We believe that the international collaborative effort brought together within the Study Group on Tic disorders and TS would represent the most appropriate first step in this direction.

Goals/Mission/Main Objective(s)
 

• To work towards a consensus on core disease mechanisms and discuss topical issues, steering the direction of future research.  

• To identify markers of disease progression and improve phenotypic subtyping

• To identify predictors and moderators of treatment response 

• To increase international collaborative research efforts within the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society with regard to epidemiology, pathophysiology and treatment optimization