Tourette's Syndrome Analysis

I found this reading pretty interesting actually. I had never heard much on Tourette’s syndrome, let alone the history of how it came about. Personally, I did not know what kinds of symptoms must be present in order for one to be diagnosed with Tourette’s. The story that was told of the man whose name was Ray, I found to be most interesting. Throughout the story, you could tell that he was not happy with the medicine he was receiving to help control his symptoms. He became angry because of the loss of his tics. I was interested in this because I would think that if a doctor came to me and told me that he may have a medicine that could help me lead a more normal life that I would jump on that, but that was not the case. Ray liked his tics. He thought they made him the person he was, but he also wanted to not be so “crazy.” Eventually he found a happy medium to this situation. I was wrong in terms of thinking. I would have thought he would have been completely happy with the drug, but it changed his whole life around after
We learned in this reading that with Tourette’s syndrome, the thalamus, hypothalamus, limbic system, and the amygdala are the parts of the brain that are mostly effected. The thalamus is a relay center that serves both the sensory and motor mechanisms. We can tell for a fact that the reason for the tics and jerks and many other irregular movements in someone with Tourette’s is because this part of the brain that deals with these such movements has been effected, causing these symptoms. The amygdala also deals with rapid eye movements which I can also see in a person with Tourette’s syndrome. They tend to jump from one thing to another in almost a manic like behavior. Rapid eye movement can be effected in someone with Tourette’s. With all of this being said, I think that this specific story strongly supports what we have learned in the book about