Full Description
The genetic correlates of neuropsychiatric disorders are now known, but none have come close to explaining the great variety of human psychiatric illnesses. This volume, written by a neuropsychiatrist and an evolutionary biologist, offers a new paradigm for understanding these disorders. Proposing that neuronal pathways which underlie neuropsychiatric conditions mirror unique human capabilities, the authors iterate a new paradigm by which to understand human psychiatric illnesses. Human capabilities such as theory of mind, language, and complex social behaviors are explored through their histological, neuroanatomical and functional brain imaging correlates.
The capacity for representation, the authors suggest, is central to the understanding of the human brain. Brain structures such as the frontal pole, temporal pole, and fronto-insular cortex are highly developed in humans and are associated with representation. Other brain regions, including the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, auditory cortex, and hippocampus, are linked with directed effort while the ventral anterior cingulate cortex, orbital frontal cortex, and amygdala are related to emotional encoding. Both networks interact with representional regions and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
Conditions like schizophrenia may result, in part, from a failure of the networks associated with directed effort while bipolar disorders may arise from a failure of networks associated with emotional encoding. Similarly, autism may result from a failure of representational brain regions; frontotemporal dementia may be associated with failure of several discrete networks in later life.
From this perspective, neuropsychiatric disorders are selective failures of brain networks involved in the integration of cognition, affect and perception. A better understanding of these brain networks will assist psychiatric and mental health researchers in the search for environmental factors and genetic correlates of disorders as well as aid in the development of more effective treatments for these diseases. This volume will be of interest to psychiatrists, neurologists, psychologists, biologists, and imaging scientists--anyone who has ever wondered what makes the human brain human.
Contents
Table of Contents
Chapter 1- The Human Illnesses
John Hughlings Jackson (1835-1911)
Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926)
Leo Kanner (1894-1981)
Arnold Pick (1851-1924)
Current DSM-IV-TR Classification
Debates about the Usefulness of Current Classifications
Could the Human Brain Tell Us Something about these Disorders?
Overview of the Volume
Chapter 2- Background on the Brain
Brain Development
Relevant Brain Regions
Neuronal Circuits Related to Learning New Behaviors
Neuronal Circuits Related to Emotional Regulation
Summary
Chapter 3- Unique Aspects of the Human Brain
The Emergence of Homo Sapiens
Brain Size and Morphology
Are There Unique Cell Types?
Genetic Studies
Human Cognition Compared to Non-human Cognition
Consciousness
Summary
Chapter 4- Schizophrenia
Epidemiology and Natural Course
Neuropsychological Findings
Electrophysiological Findings
Neurotransmitter Abnormalities
Neuropathological Studies
Genetic Investigations
Brain Imaging Studies
Schizophrenia, Increased Apolipoprotein L-1, and Resistance to Trypanosome Brain Infection
Overview
Chapter 5- Bipolar Disorders
Epidemiology and Natural Course
Neuropsychological Findings
Psychophysiological Findings
Neurotransmitter Abnormalities
Neuropathological Studies
Genetic Investigations
Brain Imaging Studies
Depression and Inflammation
Overview
Chapter 6- Autism, ADHD and Anorexia Nervosa
Autism - Epidemiology and Natural Course
Neuropsychological Findings
Psychophysiological Findings
Neurotransmitter Abnormalities
Neuropathological Studies
Genetic Investigations
Brain Imaging Studies
Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Anorexia Nervosa, Self-awareness and Autism Spectrum Disorders
Overview
Chapter 7- Frontotemporal Dementia
Epidemiology and Natural Course
Neuropsychological Findings
Neuropathological Studies
Genetic Investigations
Brain Imaging Studies
Overview
Chapter 8- Self-monitoring Systems
Self-monitoring Systems
Brain Imaging Studies of Self-awareness
Corollary Discharge Systems
Theory of Mind
Default Network
Overview
Chapter 9- Language Systems
The Nature of Language
Do primates have language?
Imaging Language
Language Anomalies in Neuropsychiatric Disorders
Language Cannot Be Considered in Isolation
Chapter 10- Affective Processing and the Social Brain
Emotional Processing in Animals
Neurobiology of Emotions in Humans
The Social Brain
Self-awareness, Empathy and Intuition
Eating Together and the Complex Social Emotions
Implications for Neuropsychiatric Disorders
Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Genetic Imprining
Overview
Chapter 11- Why Do We Have These Disorders?
Representation in the Human Brain
Schizophrenia
Bipolar Disorder
Autism
Frontotemporal Dementia
Neuropsychiatric Disorders and the Representional Brain
Genetic Correlates
Overview
Chapter 12- Implications
The Search for Final Common Pathways
Should We Give Up on Gene Studies?
What do Neuropsychiatric Disorders Tell Us About the Human Brain?
What about Other Neuropsychiatric Disorders?
The Default Network and the Representational Brain
The Represenational Brain, Attentional Networks and Human Awareness
How Do the Representional Brain Control Systems Work?
Is the Represenational Brain Unique to Humans?
Von Economo Neurons and Brain Development
Some Limitations of Current Brain Imaging
A Final Thought
