[Various aspects of the pathophysiology of the Tourette syndrome].

The duration of the R-R cardiointerval (CI) in 13 patients with Tourette's syndrome (TS) aged 9 to 17 years proved to be significantly (+17%; p less than 0.001) longer than in 27 patients of the same age with other neuropsychiatric diagnoses (temporal epilepsy, schizophrenia, neurosis, residual organics) and when compared with the normal values for the respective age (+16.2%; p less than 0.001). Variability of CI as measured by standard deviations also proved to be two times higher in patients with TS (0.082 and 0.046 s respectively, p less than 0.001). "The stress index" as an indicator of the parasympathetic-sympathetic balance of the heart innervation was lower in patients with TS (23.4 and 104.2 respectively, p less than 0.001). The rate of blinking proved to be two times higher in patients with TS (28.2 and 13.6/min respectively, p less than 0.01). The significance of the elevated activity of vagus effector nuclei is discussed in the light of modern concepts of the neurochemical mechanisms of TS.