Neurological features of Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome.

Clinical neurological examinations of 22 patients with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome and written reports of examinations of seven other patients are reported. Half the personally examined patients had minor motor asymmetries in addition to the typical motor and vocal tics found in all the patients. Thirty-six per cent of patients were left handed or ambidextrous. Electroencephalograms performed on 17 of the 22 patients showed non-specific abnormalities in 12 of them. These findings suggest that a neurological disorder underlies Tourette's syndrome, but they do not clarify its nature.