Understanding Tourette: what's really going on in the brain

Tourette is one of the most misunderstood neurological phenomena. This article explains how the Tourette brain works, what is challenging in everyday life, how to prepare your child for encounters, and which strengths are often overlooked.

Most people know Tourette only from films or short clips: someone shouts swear words uncontrollably, everyone laughs, scene over. This picture is not only incomplete, for the vast majority of those affected it is simply wrong. Tourette is a neurological difference that about one in 162 children lives with. In boys it occurs roughly three to four times more often than in girls. Behind the visible tics is a brain that works in a very particular way, and a child who is far more than what shows on the outside.

Whether you are a parent, a professional or an educator, this article helps you understand Tourette from the inside out. Because anyone who understands why a tic happens reacts differently all by themselves: calmer, clearer and with more respect.

Three stubborn myths we should get rid of

Before we look into the brain, it is worth clearing up three assumptions that make life unnecessarily hard for children with Tourette.

Myth 1: People with Tourette swear and curse. The involuntary uttering of swear words has a name, coprolalia, and it is the exception, not the rule. Only about 1 in 10 people with Tourette is affected by it. The large international study on this found, depending on the analysis, values of around 15 to 19 percent across the whole lifespan. Put differently: the clear majority of people with Tourette never swear involuntarily.

Myth 2: Tourette comes from bad parenting, stress or trauma. Tourette is strongly hereditary. Twin and family studies estimate heritability at around 50 to 80 percent. It is not a question of discipline, screen time or parenting style. You have done nothing wrong. Stress can intensify tics, but it is not the cause.