Cognitive neuropsychiatry
Encyclopedia
Cognitive neuropsychiatry is a sub-discipline of psychology
and psychiatry
that aims to understand mental illness
and psychopathology
in terms of models of normal psychological function. It is also a way of uncovering normal psychological processes by studying the effects of their change or impairment. It is derived from the fields of psychiatry
, cognitive neuroscience
, and cognitive neuropsychology
.
It is a relatively new discipline and only started in earnest in the 1990s but has been influential, not least because of its early successes in explaining some previously mysterious psychiatric disorders, most notably the Capgras delusion
, Fregoli delusion
and other delusional misidentification syndrome
s.
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
that aims to understand mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
and psychopathology
Psychopathology
Psychopathology is the study of mental illness, mental distress, and abnormal/maladaptive behavior. The term is most commonly used within psychiatry where pathology refers to disease processes...
in terms of models of normal psychological function. It is also a way of uncovering normal psychological processes by studying the effects of their change or impairment. It is derived from the fields of psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
, cognitive neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience is an academic field concerned with the scientific study of biological substrates underlying cognition, with a specific focus on the neural substrates of mental processes. It addresses the questions of how psychological/cognitive functions are produced by the brain...
, and cognitive neuropsychology
Cognitive neuropsychology
Cognitive neuropsychology is a branch of cognitive psychology that aims to understand how the structure and function of the brain relates to specific psychological processes. It places a particular emphasis on studying the cognitive effects of brain injury or neurological illness with a view to...
.
It is a relatively new discipline and only started in earnest in the 1990s but has been influential, not least because of its early successes in explaining some previously mysterious psychiatric disorders, most notably the Capgras delusion
Capgras delusion
The Capgras delusion theory is a disorder in which a person holds a delusion that a friend, spouse, parent, or other close family member has been replaced by an identical-looking impostor...
, Fregoli delusion
Fregoli delusion
The Fregoli delusion or the delusion of doubles 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...
and other delusional misidentification syndrome
Delusional misidentification syndrome
Delusional misidentification syndrome is an umbrella term, introduced by Christodoulou for a group of delusional disorders that occur in the context of mental or neurological illness. They all involve a belief that the identity of a person, object or place has somehow changed or has been altered...
s.
External links
- Cognitive Neuropsychiatry journal
Further reading
- Halligan, P.W. Marshall, J.C. (1996) Method in Madness: Case Studies in Cognitive Neuropsychiatry. Psychology Press. ISBN 0-86377-442-3
- Halligan, P.W., and David, A.S. (2001). Cognitive Neuropsychiatry: towards a scientific psychopathology. Nature Neuroscience Review, 2, 209-215.
See also
- Capgras delusionCapgras delusionThe Capgras delusion theory is a disorder in which a person holds a delusion that a friend, spouse, parent, or other close family member has been replaced by an identical-looking impostor...
- Cognitive neuropsychologyCognitive neuropsychologyCognitive neuropsychology is a branch of cognitive psychology that aims to understand how the structure and function of the brain relates to specific psychological processes. It places a particular emphasis on studying the cognitive effects of brain injury or neurological illness with a view to...
- Fregoli delusionFregoli delusionThe Fregoli delusion or the delusion of doubles 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...
- NeuropsychiatryNeuropsychiatryNeuropsychiatry is the branch of medicine dealing with mental disorders attributable to diseases of the nervous system. It preceded the current disciplines of psychiatry and neurology, in as much as psychiatrists and neurologists had a common training....
- CDR Computerized Assessment SystemCDR Computerized Assessment SystemThe CDR Computerized Assessment System is a computerized battery of cognitive tests designed in the late 1970s by Professor Keith Wesnes at the University of Reading in Berkshire, England, for repeated testing in clinical trails...