These brain changes could explain Tourette syndrome symptoms

American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish, seen here with her Oscar for Best Original Song at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscars Party, was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome at the age of 11 and has tics like wiggling her ears, raising her eyebrows, clicking her jaw and flexing her arms. — AFP

A new American study finds that people with Tourette syndrome have about half as many of a specific type of brain cell that helps calm overactive movement signals as people without the condition.

This deficit may be a key reason why their motor signals go unchecked, leading to the involuntary tics that define the disorder.