Neuropsychological performance in adults with Tourette's syndrome

Neuropsychological performance was examined in a sample of 36 adults who met DSM-III-R criteria for Tourette's syndrome (TS), confirmed by a psychiatrist or a neurologist. All subjects were administered an extensive battery of psychological and neuropsychological tests as well as symptom rating scales. The mean performance on most tests was within normal limits, and the patients and controls did not differ on a summary measure of neuropsychological performance. However, apparently 20% of the TS subjects had mild abnormalities on a summary measure of neuropsychological performance. These data are consistent with recent reports of generally normal performance in children with TS. Poor performance on several tasks was related to later age at symptom onset. The results were discussed with regard to the nature of the sample and directions for future research.