New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tic

A tic is a sudden, repetitive, stereotyped, nonrhythmic, involuntary movement (motor tic) or sound (phonic tic) that involves discrete groups of muscles. Tics can be invisible to the observer (e.g.; abdominal tensing or toe crunching). Movements of other movement disorders (e.g.; chorea, dystonia, myoclonus) must be distinguished from tics. Other conditions (e.g.; autism, stereotypic movement disorder) also include movements which may be confused with tics. Simple motor tics are typically sudden, brief, meaningless movements, such as eye blinking or shoulder shrugging. Motor tics can be of an endless variety and may include such movements as hand-clapping, neck stretching, mouth movements, head, arm or leg jerks, and facial grimacing. A simple phonic tic can be almost any possible sound or noise, with common vocal tics being throat clearing, coughing, sniffing, or grunting. Complex motor tics are typically more purposeful-appearing and of a longer nature. Examples of complex motor tics are pulling at clothes, touching people and touching objects. Complex phonic tics may fall into various categories, including echolalia (repeating words just spoken by someone else), palilalia (repeating one's own previously spoken words), klazomania (compulsive shouting), lexilalia (repeating words after reading them) and coprolalia (the spontaneous utterance of socially-objectionable or taboo words or phrases). Coprolalia is a highly-publicized, though uncommon, symptom of Tourette syndrome. Typically, tics increase as a result of stress or high energy emotions, which can include negative emotions, such as anxiety, but positive emotions as well, such as excitement or anticipation.

Related Stories
 


Health & Medicine News

January 26, 2026

Home fireplaces and wood stoves are quietly driving a large share of winter air pollution, even though only a small number of households rely on wood heat. Researchers found that wood smoke accounts for over one-fifth of Americans’ winter exposure ...
A 5,500-year-old skeleton from Colombia has revealed the oldest known genome of the bacterium linked to syphilis and related diseases. The ancient strain doesn’t fit neatly into modern categories, hinting at a forgotten form that split off early ...
Cancer doesn’t evolve by pure chaos. Scientists have developed a powerful new method that reveals the hidden rules guiding how cancer cells gain and lose whole chromosomes—massive genetic shifts that help tumors grow, adapt, and survive ...
Alzheimer’s may destroy memory by flipping a single molecular switch that tells neurons to prune their own connections. Researchers found that both amyloid beta and inflammation converge on the same receptor, triggering synapse loss. Surprisingly, ...
A newly uncovered immune chain reaction in the gut may explain why people with inflammatory bowel disease face a much higher risk of colorectal cancer. Researchers found that a powerful inflammatory signal flips on specialized gut immune cells, ...
Scientists are warning that a little-known group of microbes called free-living amoebae may pose a growing global health threat. Found in soil and water, some species can survive extreme heat, chlorine, and even modern water systems—conditions ...
Researchers have found that a natural aging-related molecule can repair key memory processes affected by Alzheimer’s disease. The compound improves communication between brain cells and restores early memory abilities that typically fade first. ...
Pancreatic cancer may evade the immune system using a clever molecular trick. Researchers found that the cancer-driving protein MYC also suppresses immune alarm signals, allowing tumors to grow unnoticed. When this immune-shielding ability was ...
Chronic inflammation may be quietly reshaping the colon and making it more vulnerable to early-onset colorectal cancer. Scientists found that colon tissue in younger patients was stiffer, even in areas that appeared healthy, suggesting these changes ...
Aging immune cells may be sabotaging the body from within. Researchers found that macrophages produce a protein that locks them into a chronic inflammatory state, making infections like sepsis more deadly in older adults. Turning off this signal ...
People with spinal cord injuries often lose movement even though their brains still send the right signals. Researchers tested whether EEG brain scans could capture those signals and reroute them to spinal stimulators. The system can detect when a ...
A large, decades-long study suggests that signs of ADHD in childhood may have consequences that extend well beyond school and behavior. Researchers followed nearly 11,000 people from childhood into midlife and found that those with strong ADHD ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:56 pm ET