Tourette's syndrome: a review from a developmental perspective.

The object of this review is to summarize some of the recent developments in the understanding of Tourette's Syndrome which can be regarded as the prototype of a developmental psychopathological entity. The review covers the following topics: tics and their developmental course; sensory phenomena related to tics including measurement of these phenomena; pathophysiology of tics and compensatory phenomena and the parallel development of the various psychiatric comorbidities as they emerge over the life span. Finally there is an attempt to summarize the major points and future directions.