For our latest "Gilles is in the air" episode, we remain...across the pond and get the chance to hear more about premonitory urge, the sensory phenomenon described and characterised in numerous studies and publications for more than 30 years.

Our guests today have conducted a scoping review of premonitory urge in primary tic disorders to identify and address limitations and knowledge gaps. 

"Knowledge of the clinical characteristics, measurement, and neural mechanisms of premonitory urge has advanced considerably in recent years, but important knowledge gaps remain in each of these domains. Addressing these knowledge gaps will be key to developing effective interventions for premonitory urge." 

Jack Wohlgemuth works as a clinical research coordinator at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, where he is focused on research related to Tourette syndrome and other neurological movement disorders. He is interested in how the brains of individuals with tic disorders differ in their processing of signals from within the body, and how these differences are related to the uncomfortable sensory phenomena that are often experienced prior to tics (“premonitory urges”). Jack received his BA from Vanderbilt University. 

Bio page: https://labs.icahn.mssm.edu/waterslab/team/

Email: [email protected] 

David Isaacs, MD, MPH is a movement disorders neurologist and co-director of the Vanderbilt Center for Tourette Syndrome and Other Tic Disorders, a Tourette Association of America Center of Excellence.

He provides clinical care to children, adolescents, and adults with tic disorders. His research examines the clinical impact and neurophysiologic correlates of non-motor features of tic disorders. 

Bio page: https://www.vumc.org/neurology/person/david-isaacs-md

Email: [email protected]

Some of the key points we discuss:

Thank you Jack and David for sharing your findings and expertise with us!

Our guest today (the episode was recorded in late April 2025) is Dr Noa Benaroya Milstein, Head of the Child Psychiatry Division Schneider's Children Medical Centre of Israel, where she also serves as Head of the Tourette Clinic. She is a Senior Lecturer at the Tel Aviv University Faculty of Medicine and actively involved in local and multi-centre studies specialised in Tourette syndrome and associated disorders. 

We talk about first-line pharmacological treatments, co-occurring condition-treatment-prioritisation cases, assessing tic-related impairment, botulinum toxin injections, DBS, promising molecules, the effects of pregnancy and postpartum period on tics and the current landscape and available treatments in Israel.

We are pleased to welcome today Tamara Pringsheim, who is a Professor with the Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Psychiatry, Paediatrics and Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary. She also works as an evidence-based medicine methodologist for the American Academy of Neurology.  

Tamara is the president of the Tourette OCD Alberta Network, a nonprofit organisation that supports people living with Tourette syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Alberta, and provides education and training on these disorders to healthcare providers. 

Suggested article: 

"The Impact of Montelukast Duration on the Risk of Neuropsychiatric Disorders in Children with Asthma: A Population-Based Cohort Study" Visit page

A long-awaited episode with Professor Stephen Jackson and Dr Barbara Morera from the University of Nottingham and Neurotherapeutics Ltd. 

They have been developing "a safe and effective non-drug treatment that reduces tics and the urge to tic, through gentle stimulation of the median nerve in the wrist". 

We are grateful to them for taking the time to answer very important questions that help us understand the effect of median nerve stimulation on tic suppression. 

Please find below the questions addressed and the key points of our conversation. 

Stephen Jackson is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Nottingham and Director of the University’s Centre for Neuromodulation, Neurotechnology, and Neurotherapeutics. He is a co-founder of Neurotherapeutics Ltd, a university medical device spin-out established in 2021 to develop a wearable for of non-invasive brain stimulation (the Neupulse device) for the treatment of tic disorders. His current research focuses on developing non-invasive brain stimulation treatments for a range of brain disorders and mental health conditions.

Dr Barbara Morera is a neuroscientist who has been working with Prof. Stephen Jackson on the development of a non-invasive treatment for Tourette Syndrome and Chronic Tic Disorder for the last 8 years. Co-founder of the company Neurotherapeutics, a spin out company from the University of Nottingham, founded with the aim to make this treatment available for those who would like to control their tics. 

Our guest for the 7th episode of "Gilles is in the air" is Dr Anna Castrioto from the Grenoble Alps University Hospital in France.

View her research works. 

We talk about hormonal changes and tics, contraception methods in association with anti-tic treatments, tic changes during pregnancy and post-partum, treatments that are not recommended during pregnancy and the ones that are harmless.

For our 6th episode, Christelle Nilles interviews Lindsay Berg, a special guest, who is very knowledgeable about today's particularly important topic.

Lindsay Berg is a Master’s student at the University of Calgary in the Clinical Psychology Program.

Her current research focuses on care equity and on examining barriers and facilitators of medical and mental health care for trans and gender diverse youth.

She previously worked in the Movement disorders clinic investigating functional tic-like behaviours.

(We apologise for the suboptimal audio quality at certain parts.)

For our 5th episode of "Gilles is in the air", we reach out to parents and teachers to hear about the challenges that they and their children are encountering within the school environment, and the solutions and mechanisms that help them in various situations.

Christelle Nilles interviews Lucy Toghill, Education Manager at Tourettes Action UK, Jose Rosa and Phillip Schöne from Spain and New Zealand respectively and currently based in Valencia, and Christina Papakaliati, founder of the newly formed, Tourette Greece. 

We are very grateful for their time and willingness to share their stories!

Useful links by Tourettes Action UK: 

Education link

Information for Education Professionals link

You may also view Christina Papakaliatis' video recording included in the "TS-underrepresented zones" session at our conference in Varese in June 2024.

For our 4th episode of "Gilles is in the air", Christelle Nilles talks to Professor David Mataix-Cols who works at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, as a Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Science. 

We are delighted to hear about his very important article “Early-Life and Family Risk Factors for Tic Disorder Persistence into Adulthood”, published in Movement Disorders in 2023. 

For our 3rd "Gilles is in the air episode", we welcome E.G. Gidner (USA), Devyn LaCroix (USA) and Paul Stevenson (UK).

We discuss amongst other things about the chronology of their first tics, if/how bothersome they were, how they were perceived by their close ones, the diagnosis –the announcement and its effect, the term "Tourette", available resources and the current landscape; acceptance and understanding.

To find out more about our guests:

E.G Gidner, X, LinkedIn, Facebook

Devyn LaCroix

Paul Stevenson, X, LinkedIn, Facebook

E.G., Devyn, Paul, thank you for sharing your stories with us! 🙏