Intentional inhibition and self-control in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome

This study examines patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS), a tic disorder characterized by impaired control of spontaneous movements and sounds. The goal is to describe the mechanisms underlying the conscious control of voluntary actions and tics. The project is part of a research proposal within the ECRP program, submitted jointly with P. Haggard (London), M. Brass (Ghent), and E. Crone (Leiden). Since spontaneous tics in GTS begin in preschool age and complex symptoms, particularly the urge feeling preceding tics, usually only develop in later childhood and adolescence, GTS is a model that can be used to study the relationship between the development of conscious will and conscious inhibition. This developmental aspect of self-control will be illuminated by including children and adolescents with GTS. The planned interdisciplinary study will apply concepts of conscious inhibition to a developmental disorder whose core problem is the restraint of spontaneous movements, thus expanding the understanding of the foundations of natural action drive and self-control in the developing brain.