ABSTRACT
Organic brain syndromes may either involve the entire cortical canopy, in which case they are said to be generalized; or they may involve only a specific part of the cortex, in which case they are said to be focal. These conditions are further described by their clinical course – acute illnesses are described as delirium and chronic illnesses as the dementias (the terms acute and chronic brain syndromes are no longer used). These are all syndromal diagnoses, and they will always require further investigations to establish the cause in a particular case.
