title: Premonitory urge to tic in Tourette's is associated with interoceptive awareness.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A contribution of aberrant interoceptive awareness to the perception of premonitory urges in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) has been hypothesized.
  
  
  METHODS
  We assessed interoceptive awareness in 19 adults with GTS and 25 age-matched healthy controls using the heartbeat counting task. We also used multiple regression to explore whether the severity of premonitory urges was predicted by interoceptive awareness or severity of tics and obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We observed lower interoceptive awareness in GTS compared with controls. Interoceptive awareness was the strongest predictor of premonitory urges in GTS, with greater interoceptive awareness being associated with more urges. Greater tic severity was also associated with higher rates of premonitory urges.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The observed relationship between severity of premonitory urges and interoceptive awareness suggests that interoception might be involved in self-reported premonitory urges in GTS. High levels of interoceptive awareness might reflect a self-attentive capacity to perceive urges.
authors: Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.|Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany.
authors: Christos
authors: C
authors: Ganos
authors: Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.|Department of Neurology, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain.
authors: Alicia
authors: A
authors: Garrido
authors: Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.|Department of Neurology, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Irene
authors: I
authors: Navalpotro-Gómez
authors: Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
authors: Lucia
authors: L
authors: Ricciardi
authors: Neurology Department, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.|Department of Neurology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust, London, UK.
authors: Davide
authors: D
authors: Martino
authors: Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
authors: Mark J
authors: MJ
authors: Edwards
authors: Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK.
authors: Manos
authors: M
authors: Tsakiris
authors: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College, London, UK.
authors: Patrick
authors: P
authors: Haggard
authors: Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
authors: Kailash P
authors: KP
authors: Bhatia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D059031:Anticipation, Psychological; D001364:Awareness / Q000502:physiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020323:Tics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005879:Tourette Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Gilles de la Tourette syndrome; interoceptive awareness; premonitory urges; tic disorders