Corona del Mar High's John Humphreys (6) hangs on for a first-quarter touchdown catch in spite of the defensive efforts of Downey's Brenden Hodge in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoffs on Friday. (Christine Cotter)
Torticollis, also known as a crick in the neck, wry neck or loxia, is a dystonic condition defined by an abnormal, asymmetrical head or neck position, which may be due to a variety of causes. The term torticollis is derived from the Latin words tortus for twisted and collum for neck.
The nerve signals responsible for torticollis are thought to originate in the basal ganglia, a group of brain structures involved in movement control. The exact defect is unknown. Some cases of dystonia are due to the inheritance of a defective gene, whose function was unknown as of mid-1998.