Cognitive neuropsychiatry is a growing multidisciplinary field arising out of

cognitive psychology Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and reasoning. Cognitive psychology originated in the 1960s in a break from behaviorism, which ...

and

neuropsychiatry Neuropsychiatry or Organic Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that deals with psychiatry as it relates to neurology, in an effort to understand and attribute behavior to the interaction of neurobiology and social psychology factors. Within neurop ...

that aims to understand

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

and

psychopathology Psychopathology is the study of abnormal cognition, behaviour, and experiences which differs according to social norms and rests upon a number of constructs that are deemed to be the social norm at any particular era. Biological psychopatholo ...

in terms of models of normal psychological function. A concern with the neural substrates of impaired cognitive mechanisms links cognitive neuropsychiatry to the basic neuroscience. Alternatively, CNP provides a way of uncovering normal psychological processes by studying the effects of their change or impairment. The term "cognitive neuropsychiatry" was coined by Prof Hadyn Ellis (

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

) in a paper "The cognitive neuropsychiatric origins of the Capgras delusion", presented at the International Symposium on the Neuropsychology of Schizophrenia, Institute of Psychiatry, London (Coltheart, 2007). Although clinically useful, current syndrome classifications (e.g. DSM-IV; ICD-10) have no empirical basis as models of normal cognitive processes. No neuropsychological accounts of how the brain 'works' would ever be complete without a cognitive level of analysis. CNP moves beyond diagnosis and classification to offer a cognitive explanation for established psychiatric behaviours, regardless of whether the symptoms are due to recognised brain pathology or to dysfunction in brain areas or networks without structural lesions. CNP has been influential, not least because of its early success in explaining some previously bizarre psychiatric delusions, most notably the

Capgras delusion Capgras delusion or Capgras syndrome is a psychiatric disorder in which a person holds a delusion that a friend, spouse, parent, or other close family member (or pet) has been replaced by an identical impostor. It is named after Joseph Capgras (1 ...

Fregoli delusion The Fregoli delusion is a rare disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that different people are in fact a single person who changes appearance or is in disguise. The syndrome may be related to a brain lesion and is often of a paranoi ...

and other

delusional misidentification syndrome Delusional misidentification syndrome is an umbrella term, introduced by Christodoulou (in his book ''The Delusional Misidentification Syndromes'', Karger, Basel, 1986) for a group of delusional disorders that occur in the context of mental and n ...

s. The Capgras delusion is "explained as the interruption in the covert route to face recognition, namely affective responses to familiar stimuli, localized in the dorsal route of vision from striate cortex to limbic system. According to standard molecular hypotheses, acute delusions are the result of a dysregulated activity of some neuromodulators." Additionally, the study of cognitive neuropsychiatry has shown to intersect with the study of philosophy. This intersection revolves around a reconsideration of the mind-body relationship and the contemplation of moral issues that can arise by fields such as neuropsychopathology. For example, it has been under consideration whether or not Parkinson's patients should be held morally accountable for their physical actions. This discussion and study has taken place due to the discovery that under certain circumstances, Parkinson's patients can initiate and control their own movement. Examples such as this are cause for difficult judgement calls, i.e. "about who is mad and who is bad" (Stein 1999). Cognitive neuropsychiatry has also explored the difference between implicit and explicit cognition, especially in catatonic patients. For more information on the bridge between neuropsychiatry and philosophy see (e.g., Stein, Dan (1999). Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology).

References

External links

''Cognitive Neuropsychiatry''
journal 996– {{Psychiatry Neuropsychology Psychiatric specialities

See also

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Further reading

External links