Clinical neuropsychiatry studies mental disorders from a neurological perspective, focusing on abnormalities in the nervous system and the brain. It uses brain scanning machines and pharmaceutical treatments to diagnose and treat disorders, and also studies genetics as a potential cause.
Clinical neuropsychiatry considers mental disorders from a neurological point of view. Therefore, abnormalities in the nervous system and the brain in particular are the focus. Focuses of neuropsychiatry include damage to brain structure and neurotransmitter deficiencies. Brain scanning machines and pharmaceutical treatments are common in this field.
Historically, neurology and psychiatry grew out of a common desire to study the brain and its effects on human behavior. From this common origin, the two disciplines first converged in a common formation and then diverged as their areas of concentration began to separate. Neurology came to represent inroads into the physical brain and its complicated nerve cell pathways and chemical reactions. Psychology has shifted its focus to the products of the brain: human behavior and the systems of thoughts, memories and beliefs that make up the mind. As psychiatry became a more recognized science, interest in the workings of the brain and nervous system was renewed through clinical neuropsychiatry.
The brain is made up of many small neural cells that come together, interact and communicate in various ways. More and more scientists have recognized the role of these complex networks in creating and consolidating human behavior. Many psychologists have therefore turned to neurology to explain the human mind. Clinical neuropsychiatry exists alongside other theoretical fields such as behaviorism, psychoanalysis, and cognition. These more traditional psychological approaches tend to emphasize factors such as past experiences, sociocultural influences, and systems of thought.
Psychiatry in particular is the medical part of psychology that deals with mental disorders. As such, neuropsychiatry seeks answers about psychiatric dysfunction from the brain and its physical components. For example, behavioral neurology studies the impact of brain disease or brain injury on neural functioning and subsequent behavior.
Clinical neuropsychiatry involves a clinical component beyond mere study and research. Individuals in this discipline seek not only an understanding of mental dysfunction but also practical solutions for diagnosing and treating these disorders. Diagnostic machines that map brain wave activity and neurological chemical reactions have been developed and used largely for clinical neuropsychiatry. Such technological advances include the following: magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), electroencephalography (EEG) imaging, computed tomography (CT), and positron emission tomography (PET). Additionally, these professionals study neurochemistry so that they can find pharmaceuticals that can correct chemical imbalances.
Genetics is also a major focal point of many neuropsychiatry studies. Many disorders are believed to have at least partial genetic origin. Disorders such as schizophrenia or narcolepsy could be partially caused by abnormal neural pathways or brain chemistry levels present from birth. The effectiveness of drugs that correct problems such as abnormal neurotransmitter actions supports this hypothesis. Additionally, brain scans of individuals diagnosed with mental disorders routinely indicate abnormal brain structure or hypoactivity and hyperactivity in different regions of the brain.
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