ABSTRACT

In this book, the author discusses a range of common neurodevelopmental disorders affecting young people - autism, depression, schizophrenia, ADHD, Tourette's Syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder - from the unique perspective of their proposed common origin in the function and dysfunction of the brain's frontostriatal system.
Throughout the book, the author systematically compares and contrasts them from a biological, clinical and evolutionary standpoint, viewing them as extensions of normal personality attributes, which, in less extreme form, may possess certain behavioural advantages, explaining their persistence in the general population. The result is a unique, up-to-date, and wide-ranging discussion of these disorders that draws upon biology, genetics, neuropsychology, neuropathology, neuroimaging, and clinical presentation and treatment. It will be of interest to advanced students, researchers and practitioners in neuropsychology, neuropsychiatry, psychiatry, and clinical psychology.

chapter 3|16 pages

The basal ganglia

chapter 4|20 pages

Tourette's syndrome

chapter 5|22 pages

Obsessive compulsive disorder

chapter 6|24 pages

Attention de®cit hyperactivity disorder

chapter 7|50 pages

Schizophrenia: A disorder of thought

chapter 8|48 pages

Autism

chapter 9|38 pages

Depression

chapter 10|16 pages

An interpretation