Jumping Frenchmen, Miryachit, and Latah: Culture-Specific Hyperstartle-Plus Syndromes.

Jumping Frenchmen, Miryachit, and Latah: Culture-Specific Hyperstartle-Plus Syndromes. Front Neurol Neurosci. 2018;42:122-131 Authors: Lanska DJ Abstract In the late 19th century, jumping (French Canadians in Maine, USA), miryachit (Siberia), and latah (Southeast Asia) were among a group of similar disorders described around the world, each of which manifests as an exaggerated startle response with additional late-response features that were felt by some to overlap with hysteria or tics. The later features following the exaggerated startle reaction variably include mimesis (e.g., echopraxia, echolalia) and automatic obedience. These reaction patterns tended to persist indefinitely in affected individuals. Because of their dramatic stimulus-driven behaviors, affected individuals were prone to be teased and tormented by being repeatedly and intentionally startled. Despite clinical overlap between jumping and Tourette syndrome, these entities are now recognized as distinct: in jumping, the key feature is an abnormal startle response, the abnormal reaction is always provoked, and tics are absent, whereas in Tourette syndrome, the key feature is spontaneous motor and vocal tics, although patients with Tourette syndrome may occasionally also have an exaggerated startle response. These disorders have been conceptualized from anthropological, psychodynamic, and neurobiologic perspectives, with no complete resolution to date. Attempts at trea...
Source: Frontiers of Neurology and Neuroscience - Category: Neuroscience Tags: Front Neurol Neurosci Source Type: research