The Imitation Game in Children With Tourette Syndrome: A Lack of Impulse Control to Mirror Environmental Stimuli

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Matteo Briguglio IRCCS Orthopedic Institute Galeazzi, Scientific Direction, Milan, Italy

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Roberta Galentino Tourette’s Syndrome and Movement Disorders Centre, IRCCS Orthopedic Institute Galeazzi, Milan, Italy

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Sara De Michele Tourette’s Syndrome and Movement Disorders Centre, IRCCS Orthopedic Institute Galeazzi, Milan, Italy

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Bernardo Dell’Osso Luigi Sacco University Hospital, Psychiatry 2 Unit, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
CRC Aldo Ravelli for Neurotechnology and Experimental Brain Therapeutics, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

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Leonardo Fogassi Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy

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Mauro Porta Tourette’s Syndrome and Movement Disorders Centre, IRCCS Orthopedic Institute Galeazzi, Milan, Italy

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1123/mc.2021-0064
Keywords:
motor tic; echopraxia; neurologic manifestations; deep learning; mirror neuron
First Published Online:
12 Nov 2021
In Print:
Volume 26: Issue 1
Page Range:
92–96
Restricted access

The learning process in humans requires continuous contacts with environmental stimuli, especially during neurodevelopmental growth. These functions are assisted by the coding potential of mirror neurons to serve social interactions. This ability to learn imitating the observed behavior is no longer necessary during adulthood, and control mechanisms prevent automatic mirroring. However, children with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome could encounter coding errors at the level of the mirror neurons system as these cortical regions are themselves the ones affected in the syndrome. Combined with impulsivity, the resulting sign would be a manifest echopraxia that persists throughout adulthood, averting these individuals from the appraisal of a spot-on motor control.

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