Advances in neuropsychiatry: clinical implications

Mike Dilley is a specialist registrar in neuropsychiatry at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London (Department of Neuropsychiatry, Box 15, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK. E-mail: M.Dilley{at}iop.kcl.ac.uk). His research interests include neuroimaging the neural correlates of ruminative thinking and conversion disorders. Simon Fleminger is a consultant neuropsychiatrist on the Lishman Brain Injury Unit, Maudsley Hospital, and the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit, Edgware Hospital, London. He is also an honorary senior lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, London. His research interests include traumatic and anoxic brain injury.

In this review of recent advances in the sub-specialty, we briefly discuss the current understanding of causes, presentations and evidence-based treatment of the most common disorders seen in clinical neuropsychiatry. Traumatic and acquired brain injury, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease, sleep disorders and delirium are all considered, focusing on the most contentious issues and practical approaches to management and treatment.