Ongoing cooperation for several years in the fields of diagnosis, treatment and research between several clinical centers in the Netherlands on the subject of Gilles de la Tourette led to the foundation of the (Dutch) Interdisciplinary Working group “Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome” on April the 15th 1987. More than 90 patients have been seen, diagnosed and/or treated by the members of this working group, and the number is still increasing. Regularly the presences of tics, obsessions and compulsions, and attention disturbances have been noted in families of these patients. This observation is in agreement with an increasing number of reports about familial “Tourette patterns,” particularly from the United States and the United Kingdom. The working group decided to develop a design for a family and genetic study in the families of the Tourette patients who have been seen by the working group. The plans were discussed and approved by the Dutch Tourette Association and the Medical-Ethical Committee of the University Hospital. The first objective is to create a detailed inventory of symptoms and signs related to the Tourette spectrum in all the patients and families that are willing to cooperate with this study. On the basis of these data, variability in presentation and severity of the Tourette spectrum can be studied on a family scale. This inventory will be carried out by Dr. B.J.M. van de Wetering in close cooperation with r.B. Minderaa and T.C.A.M. van Woerkom, using semistructured interviews and psychiatric examinations of all available patients and family members. The second objective is to carry out a genetic linkage analysis using the material obtained. Our study in the Dutch population may result in the confirmation of a (possible) gene localization for Tourette Syndrome. Linkage analysis will be carried out in the laboratory of Dr. B.A. Oostra and Prof. Dr. M.F. Niermeyer of the Depts. of Clinical Genetics and Cellbiology and Histology of the Erasmus University, Rotterdam. Cooperation is ongoing with America and European TS researchers. B.J.M. van de Wetering, M.D. University of Rotterdam, The Netherlands Award: $6,900 Tourette Association of America Inc. – Research Grant Award 1987