A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Behavioral, Educational, and Pharmacological Treatments in Youths With Chronic Tic Disorder or Tourette Syndrome.

Context: The existing literature on the treatment of pediatric chronic tic disorder (CTD) and Tourette syndrome (TS) indicates that both behavioral therapy (BT) and pharmacotherapy (PT) are effective for reducing symptoms.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of BT compared to psychoeducation (PE) or PT for reducing tics and co-occurring symptoms and for improving quality of life (QoL) in a sample of youths with CTD and TS.

Design: A 10 weeks, 2 sites (Catania, Rome) randomized controlled trial.

Time processing in children with Tourette's syndrome.

Background: Tourette syndrome (TS) is characterized by dysfunctional connectivity between prefrontal cortex and sub-cortical structures, and altered meso-cortical and/or meso-striatal dopamine release. Since time processing is also regulated by fronto-striatal circuits and modulated by dopaminergic transmission, we hypothesized that time processing is abnormal in TS.

Methods: We compared time processing abilities between nine children with TS-only (i.