Sensorimotor and Psychosocial Trajectories in Adolescents With Tic Disorder

NCT06576726 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 241465
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 351
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Individuals with tic disorders have lower quality of life, sensory and movement difficulties, and poorer mental, social, and physical health compared to the general population. Current clinical care for individuals with tic disorders is limited: no interventions are proven to prevent or stop the disorder exist, and most treatments focus solely on tics, though other symptoms often affect quality of life more than tics. To develop new treatments and improve care for people with tics, researchers need to better understand the different symptoms people experience and how the brain causes these symptoms. Many individuals with tic disorders have sensory and movement symptoms other than tics. A common sensory symptom is increased sensitivity to common sensations, such as glare from sunlight, tags in shirt collars, and noises from passing cars. A common movement symptom is poor handwriting and/or poor coordination. In one study of adolescents with tic disorder, difficulty with hand coordination predicted tic severity 7.5 years later, suggesting that sensory and/or motor difficulties may be a risk factor for more severe tics later in life. Despite how common they are, much is unknown about sensory and motor difficulties experienced by people with tic disorders. Additionally, most studies of people with tics enroll younger children. As a result, little is known about sensory, motor, and psychosocial development in adolescents with tics. Knowledge of sensory and motor difficulties in adolescents with tics is important to understand because, in other adolescent populations, such difficulties are associated with worse mental and social health and worse quality of life. Deepening insight into the sensory, motor, and psychosocial development of adolescents with tic disorders is crucial to identify causes and risk factors for poor health in this population. The goals of this study are to measure sensory and motor symptoms and function in adolescents with tics and to compare them to adolescents without tics. The research team will enroll adolescents with tics and adolescents without tics to participate in the study. Adolescent participants will complete questionnaires, electroencephalogram (EEG) tasks, and other sensory and motor tasks at baseline (with 2 study visits occurring within 30 days of each other) and 2 years later (again, with 2 study visits, occurring within 30 days of each other). A parent or other adult who knows the adolescent well will also complete questionnaires as part of the study.

Conditions

Tourette Syndrome; Tic Disorder

Keywords

Tourette syndrome; tic disorder; sensorimotor; sensory; motor; sensory over-responsivity; psychosocial; development; behavioral; neurophysiology

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (9)

• Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (AASP)

  validated, 60-item self-report questionnaire assessing sensory experiences

  from baseline to 2-year follow-up

• Sensory Perception Quotient

  35-item self-report questionnaire assessing self-perceived basic sensory sensitivity

  from baseline to 2-year follow-up

• Sensory Gating Inventory

  validated, 36-item self-report questionnaire assessing sensory over-responsivity

  from baseline to 2-year follow-up

• Adolescent Motor Competence Questionnaire (AMCQ)

  validated, 26-item self-report questionnaire assessing self-perceived coordination

  from baseline to 2-year follow-up

• Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, 2nd edition (BOT-2)

  validated, rater-administered scale assessing motor coordination

  from baseline to 2-year follow-up

• Purdue pegboard

  validated, rater-administered task assessing manual dexterity and coordination

  from baseline to 2-year follow-up

• Vibrotactile battery, with BrainGauge (CM4)

  Device- and rater-administered battery assessing several features of vibrotactile threshold perception, including static threshold detection, dynamic threshold detection, amplitude discrimination without and with adaptation, sequential and simultaneous frequency discrimination

  from baseline to 2-year follow-up

• Tactile gating indices

  Participants will undergo a tactile gating paradigm, while monitored on electroencephalogram (EEG), during which puffs of air will be administered to the index finger.

  from baseline to 2-year follow-up

• Contingent negative variation indices

  Participants will undergo a contingent negative variation paradigm, while monitored on electroencephalogram (EEG), during which puffs of air will be administered to the index finger, cueing the participant to respond

  from baseline to 2-year follow-up

Secondary Outcomes (33)

• Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS)

  from baseline to 2-year follow-up

• Premonitory Urge for Tics Scale (PUTS)

  from baseline to 2-year follow-up

• Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale for DSM-V (ASRS-V)

  from baseline to 2-year follow-up

• Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Child Version-Revised (OCI-CV-R)

  from baseline to 2-year follow-up

• PROMIS Pediatric SF GenPop v3.0 - Anxiety 8a

  from baseline to 2-year follow-up

Other Outcomes (8)

• Edinburgh Handedness Inventory - Short Version

  from baseline to 2-year follow-up

• Pubertal Development Scale

  from baseline to 2-year follow-up

• Weschler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, 2nd edition (WASI-II), 2-subtest with Vocabulary and Matrix Reasoning

  baseline

Study Arms (2)

adolescents with tic disorder

Other: This study involves no intervention.

neurotypical adolescents (controls)

Other: This study involves no intervention.

Interventions

This study involves no intervention. OTHER

This study involves no intervention.

adolescents with tic disorder; neurotypical adolescents (controls)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 11 Years - 17 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Participants must be willing to attend Visits 2 and 4 in-person

You may qualify if:

• adolescent age 11-17 years of age
• adolescent diagnosis of chronic tic disorder (Tourette syndrome, chronic motor tic disorder, chronic vocal tic disorder)
• English-speaking adolescent and caregiver/adult proxy (as validated questionnaires are in English)
• adolescent and caregiver/adult proxy willingness and ability to complete relevant questionnaires

You may not qualify if:

• cognitive or attentional impairment precluding ability of adolescent or caregiver/adult proxy to complete questionnaires and other study measures
• adolescent diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or psychotic disorder
• adolescent diagnosis of pervasive genetic disorder besides chronic tic disorders and their known comorbidities
• adolescent with severe medical conditions unrelated to chronic tic disorders (e.g. uncontrolled seizures, prominent heart conditions)
• other variables that might influence ratings outside of the typical presentation of chronic tic disorders
• adolescent treatment with stimulant medications or anti-seizure medications within the past 30 days
• use of marijuana or recreational substances within the past 30 days
• history of seizure
• history of hearing loss or abnormalities
• history of neuropathy or overt sensory deficit
• history of brain surgery or skull-penetrating/deforming trauma
• history of stroke, brain cancer, or other significant neurologic illness/disorder \*\* Individuals excluded based on these criteria are ineligible for the EEG portion of the study but can complete the remainder of the study measures.
• adolescent age 11-17 years of age
• English-speaking adolescent and caregiver/adult proxy (as validated questionnaires are in English)
• adolescent and caregiver/adult proxy willingness and ability to complete relevant questionnaires

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Vanderbilt University Medical Center: lead

Study Sites (1)

Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Nashvile, Tennessee, 37232, United States

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Tourette Syndrome; Tic Disorders; Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Basal Ganglia Diseases; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Movement Disorders; Heredodegenerative Disorders, Nervous System; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Genetic Diseases, Inborn; Congenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and Abnormalities; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• David Isaacs, MD, MPH

  Vanderbilt University Medical Center

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Michelle Clinical Translational Research Coordinator II

CONTACT

615-875-7394; michelle.r.eckland.1@vumc.org

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: CASE CONTROL
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 26, 2024
• First Posted: August 29, 2024
• Study Start: October 24, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 1, 2030
• Last Updated: November 24, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-11

Locations

US (1)