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Disordered mind and brain: the neural basis of mental symptoms

By Peter F Liddle (Pp 320, £40.00). Published by Gaskell, London, 2001. ISBN 1-901242-65-X

Keywords: mental disorders

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The premise of this book is that the key to understanding the neural basis of the major mental disorders is an understanding of the origin of five symptom clusters or dimensions common to these disorders. These are reality distortion (hallucinations and delusions); disorganisation (of thought and behaviour); psychomotor poverty and excitation; depression and elation; and anxiety. Thus, there are five chapters each devoted to a description of a specific dimension and an exposition of how it is correlated with cognitive abnormalities derived from the dysfunction of specific neural processes.

These central chapters are preceded by five chapters describing the neuroscience of brain systems thought to be involved in generating the various symptom clusters. These are brief and the literature reviews are in no way comprehensive. Nevertheless, they serve the purpose of informing the reader of the basic neuroanatomical and neurophysiological concepts that underpin Professor Liddle's approach to understanding mental illness.

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