Conditions characterised mainly by disturbances in behaviour have generally been considered to be poorly understood and of interest and relevance largely to behavioural scientists. However, problems such as cognitive decline, aggression, and affective disturbance are common and are present in conditions that come under the care of professionals across a range of disciplines. For instance, aggressive behaviours develop in circumstances ranging from personality disturbances arising in childhood to disturbances of brain tissue. Basal ganglia disorders and the dementias are both increasingly recognised as broad disease groups in which behavioural disturbances are integral features, not just peripheral epiphenomena that may be safely ignored.

Although clinical and academic practice in these areas does not fall neatly into the province of any single specialty, in the past, particularly where no organic underpinnings could be determined, such problems were considered to fall within the remit of some aspect of psychiatry. The situation has been . . . [Full text of this article]