Neuropsychiatry

Dr Muller describes a case of a patient with a paranoid psychosis who clearly needs help, yet refuses treatment.

Antidepressants may have a protective effect on the hippocampal atrophy seen in patients with severe, untreated depression. This atrophy may be caused by an overabundance of glucocorticoids.

mild traumatic brain injury, MTBI, concussion, post-concussive syndrome

mental notes

A discussion of the current evidence base of psychosomatic medicine in the context of its public health significance and suggestions for the future development of the field.

Neurotechnology's New Wave, Part I: The Rise of the Device Market

autism, mirror neuron defect

There is a tendency to avoid psychiatric medications during pregnancy, but the high prevalence of psychiatric disorders in pregnant women means that women and their physicians must make impromptu decisions regarding the initiation or continuation of drug therapy.

The online contents of the April 2006 issue of Psychiatric Times.

spinal cord injuries, SCI, neural network, axon stretch, stroke, neurorehabilitation, biomarkers, cystatin C, ALS, amyloid lateral sclerosis, MS, multiple sclerosis

Physicians who use electroconvulsivetherapy (ECT) need tobe vigilant for unstable medicalconditions before and during the courseof treatment. This brief review is intendedto highlight some basic principlesand specific concerns that maybe encountered in the use of ECT inpatients who have comorbid medicalillness.

The 5 papers in this Special Report on neuropsychiatry provide compelling evidence for the renaissance of neuropsychiatry as a clinical discipline. Wehave every reason to hope that this will lead to a better understanding of the complex interactions between brain and behavior and will reduce the artificial distinction between neurology and psychiatry.

First described more than 500 years ago, phantom limb pain affects as many as 50% to 80% of patients who undergo amputation. Although it is easy to recognize and diagnose, its cause remains unclear, it can be difficult to manage successfully, and health care professionals often do not address it.

Each year, more than 2 million individuals in the United States sustain a traumatic brain injury. Increased vigilance for previously undiagnosed or incidental TBIs in general mental health populations may lead to more effective clinical management.

During and after menopause, many women report impairments in cognitive functioning. Should hormones be prescribed in an effort to mitigate cognitive symptoms of menopause?

The recent evolution of neuropsychiatry/behavioral neurology as a subspecialty represents a paradigmatic shift regarding the responsibility of psychiatrists in diagnosing and managing behavioral disorders with concomitant and demonstrable brain pathology such as dementia or head injury. This authors define the clinical usefulness of electroencephalography in evaluating neuropsychiatric disorders.

The cost-effectiveness of treatment for Alzheimer disease has been questioned. But until the next generation of therapeutics arrives, cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine will probably remain essential components of therapy for cognition and function.

Sleep-associated movement disorders are common in the general population. When patients complain of sleep disturbance, psychiatrists should consider,and question for, features of nocturnal movement disorder.

Psychiatrists specialize in mental phenomena, but this special expertise does not confer license to ignore the additional information that can be gathered from physical signs.

Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) has been shown to ameliorate respiratory impairment, which, as the disease worsens, is often responsible for death in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Its use, however, is uncommon, and its overall value in improving quality of life and survival has been debated. Findings of a randomized controlled study by a team from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, may shift clinicians' attitudes about the intervention.

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, sural nerves, sural nerve involvement

In the late 1890s, Joseph Francois Felix Babinski (1857-1932), a French neurologist of Polish descent, discovered that if noxious stimulation of the sole of a patient's foot caused the big toe to rise and the other toes to splay, the reflex was indicative of corticospinal tract damage. "

The most common club drugs or party drugs are MDMA, ketamine and GHB. How dangerous is continued use of these substances? Can they cause real damage to the brain?

Huntington disease, neurogenetics, George Sumner Huntington, Systematic Evaluation of Treatments for Huntington's Disease, Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

traumatic brain injury, memory impairment, depression, neurobehavioral disorders