Tics or habit spasms have been described in various ways, but perhaps the most useful definition is that of Kanner (1937) that they are “quick, sudden and frequently repeated movements of circumscribed groups of muscles, serving no apparent purpose”. Children with this symptom not infrequently present to the paediatrician or child psychiatrist with accompanying symptoms of emotional disturbance, and by the age of seven years approximately five per cent of children have a history of such movements (Kellmer Pringle et al., 1967). Less commonly, adolescents who have suffered with tics from an earlier age develop vocal tics and coprolalia (compulsive swearing) symptomatic of Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome. Tiqueurs are rarely seen for treatment in adult life, except in a few well-documented cases where Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome persists (Fernando 1967).
The study explored encoding, storage, and retrieval components of memory functioning in four groups of subjects: (1) normal elderly; (2) elderly subjects in the early prestages of DAT; (3) elderly subjects with a more advanced DAT; (4) younger subjects in the early prestages of AIDS dementia. Each group consisted of 26 subjects, who were administered the Rey Auditory‐Verbal Learning Test. The results suggest impaired encoding and retrieval in the DAT groups. The AIDS group demonstrated deficient storage and retrieval. Their pattern of memory deficits was similar to that seen in normal aging. The results speak in favor of the hypothesis of subcortical nature of neurological changes in normal aging.
Various forms of treatment have been recommended for multiple tics, including psychotherapy (Zausmer, 1954), behaviour therapy (Yates, 1958) and phenothiazines and other tranquillizers (Lucas, 1964; Kelman, 1965), but there have been no reports of an adequate controlled trial of any particular therapy.
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