Tourette Syndrome is a neurologic disorder named after which person?

• A. Dr. Tourette
• B. Dr. James Parkinson
• C. Dr. John Down
• D. Dr. Alois Alzheimer

Answer: (A)

In medical terminology, many disorders are named after the clinician who first described them. Tourette syndrome is named for Georges Gilles de la Tourette, a French neurologist who first described the condition in the late 19th century, so the person referenced here is Dr. Tourette. The other names correspond to different diseases described by James Parkinson (Parkinson's disease), John Langdon Down (Down syndrome), and Alois Alzheimer (Alzheimer's disease). This is a classic example of an eponym in medicine.