19th IACAPAP Lunch & Learn Webinar | Tourette Syndrome, Autism, ADHD and OCD: Convergence and Divergence in Pathogenesis and Clinical Implications for Management

Tourette syndrome (TS) is not a unitary condition but heterogeneous in clinical presentation, course, treatment response and longitudinal outcomes. While the precise mechanisms underlying GTS are yet to be understood, most people with GTS also experience associated co-morbidities including obsessive-compulsive behaviour/disorder (OCB/OCD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Autism. These comorbidities may provide valuable clues to the pathogenesis of these overlapping and yet distinct neurodevelopmental disorders. In this regard, potential neuronal circuitry involvement linking genetic architecture with the clinical phenotypes and gender dependent differences in the phenotypic expression may be further influenced by pre and perinatal and immunological factors that serve as ‘second hits’. Thus, the presence of commonly encountered co-morbidities may indicate different aetiological pathways or shared molecular genetic involvement further shaped by environmental factors affecting development across diagnostic boundaries which has important implications for management.