Differentiating tics from functional (psychogenic) movements with electrophysiological tools.

OBJECTIVE

We report on two patients that presented to our clinic with the differential diagnosis of functional movement disorder vs tic disorder.

CASE REPORTS: The first patient is a 23-year-old woman with a 3-year history of repetitive involuntary neck flexion movements. The second patient is a 59-year-old man with a 10-month history of involuntary trunk jerks. In both cases, the polyelectromyographic study and the observation of Bereitschaftspotential helped us in making the final diagnosis.

SIGNIFICANCE: The use of electrophysiological tools can be helpful in making the distinction between functional movement disorders and tic disorders.