A brief history of Tourette syndrome

Abstract

In 1885, at the behest of his mentor Charcot, Gilles de laTourette published a two-part article which identified acombination of multiple motor tics and “involuntary”vocalizations that over time increased in number and varietywith the eventual appearance of eruptive cursing that hedesignated “coprolalia.”1 He labeled this disorder maladie destics convulsifs avec coprolalie, insisting that it was distinctfrom choreas and hysterias. Based on nine patients’ casehistories, Gilles de la Tourette concluded that although it signsand symptoms might wax and wane, the disease ultimatelyresisted all interventions.2 There was no hope of “a completecure,” wrote Gilles de la Tourette, for clinical experiencedemonstrated that “once a ticcer, always a ticcer.