[Cognitive disturbances in children with chronic tics and their treatment]

To clarify the severity of cognitive disturbances in children with chronic tics and to evaluate the efficacy of cortexin as part of complex therapy in the treatment of this pathology.

The main study group included 50 children, aged 6-8 years, with chronic motor tics. Twenty patients of these group received phenibut and 30 patients received cortexin in addition to phenibut. The comparison group consisted of 30 children with transient tics, aged 6-8 years, the control group consisted of 40 children of the same age without tics and other neuropsychiatric disorders. Clinical assessment of tick manifestations and their frequency was performed using the Tourette Syndrome Global Scale (TSGS), neurological examination, electroencephalography. Severity of asthenic and cognitive disorders was evaluated using the Subjective Asthenia Scale (MFI-20), the memorization technique by A.R. Luria and the TOVA test.

Children with chronic tics show signs of asthenia, they are characterized by a higher level of inattention and significantly lower levels of long-term memory compared to children from the comparison group and the control group. The level of impulsivity in children with chronic tics is significantly higher than in the control group but significantly lower than in children in the comparison group. A comparative analysis of EEG data in children with chronic tics reveals the following significant differences from the control and comparison groups: a higher amplitude and higher values of the peak frequency of the alpha-rhythm in the posterior regions of both hemispheres, a significant increase in the alpha-range of the frontal temporal leads of both hemispheres. Complex therapy with the addition of cortexin significantly improves treatment efficacy: improvement is noted in 60,0% of patients in monotherapy and in 83.3% of patients in complex therapy.