This exciting volume brings together the latest work of 26 recognized experts in clinical neuropsychiatry, neuropsychology, neuroscience, and neuroimaging. Its chapters are organized into sections that cover a broad range of topics related to advances in our understanding of normal and abnormal frontal lobe functions. Part 1 introduces frontal lobe dysfunction as a common pathway leading to social and occupational disability, arguing that our aging population with its decline in executive cognitive abilities mandates corresponding eligibility and treatment changes in public and private health disability policies. Part 2 delineates the anatomy and neurochemistry of the extended frontal systems underlying neuropsychiatric illness, including colorful illustrations of three key prefrontal-subcortical circuits; a description of the functional anatomy of the orbitofrontal cortex and its relationship to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); the intricate pharmacology of working memory systems and how they apply to schizophrenia; the lateralization of prefrontal cognitive functions; and a framework for understanding the role played by the prefrontal cortex in consciousness and self-awareness. Part 3 clarifies the overused diagnosis "frontal lobe syndrome" seen in clinical practice, identifying three prefrontal syndromes for further study -- dorsolateral dysexecutive syndrome, orbitofrontal disinhibited syndrome, and mesial frontal apathetic syndrome -- that align with the anatomical systems described in Part 2 of this volume. Also included are common problems -- and suggested solutions -- in diagnosis and treatment, a practical overview of the assessment of frontal lobe functions with guidelines for bedside and formal neuropsychological examination, and comprehensive treatment strategies. Part 4 covers the role of the frontal lobes in major neuropsychiatric illnesses, discussing evidence that shows prefrontal and anterior temporal hypometabolism in primary and secondary depression; reviewing anatomical, imaging, and neurochemical studies in schizophrenia; describing the neuropsychological and neuropsychiatric sequelae of closed head injury; summarizing the neurological substrates related to interesting and often dramatic cases of content-specific delusions; and concluding with a report on the stereotactic neurosurgical treatment of refractory OCD and its implications for understanding frontal lobe function. This remarkable work is intended for psychiatrists, neurologists, psychologists, basic and clinical neuroscientists, and trainees from each of these disciplines, who will welcome it as a valuable tool in understanding the complexities of what was once considered the terra incognita of the brain.

The cognitive and behavioral functions of the frontal lobes have been of great interest to neuroscientists, neurologists, psychologists and psychiatrists. Recent technical advances have made it possible to trace their neuroanatomical connections more precisely and to conduct evoked potential and neuroimaging studies in patients. This book presents a broad and authoritative synthesis of research progress in this field. It encompasses neuroanatomical studies; experiments involving temporal organization and working memory tasks in non-human primates; clinical studies of patients following frontal lobe excisions for intractable epilepsy; metabolic imaging in schizophrenia and affective disorder; neurobehavioral studies of patients with dementia, frontal lobe tumors, and head injuries; magnetic resonance imaging methods for studying human frontal lobe anatomy; theoretical approaches to describing frontal lobe functions; and rehabilitation of patients with frontal lobe damage including their core problem of diminished awareness. Written by a distinguished group of neuroscientists, psychologists and clinicians, Frontal Lobe Function and Dysfunction provides the best current source of information on this region of the brain and its role in cognition, behavior and clinical disorders.

From translating the patient’s medical records and test results to providing recommendations, the neuropsychological evaluation incorporates the science and practice of neuropsychology, neurology, and psychological sciences. The Little Black Book of Neuropsychology brings the practice and study of neuropsychology into concise step-by-step focus—without skimping on scientific quality. This one-of-a-kind assessment reference complements standard textbooks by outlining signs, symptoms, and complaints according to neuropsychological domain (such as memory, language, or executive function), with descriptions of possible deficits involved, inpatient and outpatient assessment methods, and possible etiologies. Additional chapters offer a more traditional approach to evaluation, discussing specific neurological disorders and diseases in terms of their clinical features, neuroanatomical correlates, and assessment and treatment considerations. Chapters in psychometrics provide for initial understanding of brain-behavior interpretation as well as more advanced principals for neuropsychology practice including new diagnostic concepts and analysis of change in performance over time. For the trainee, beginning clinician or seasoned expert, this user-friendly presentation incorporating ‘quick reference guides’ throughout which will add to the practice armentarium of beginning and seasoned clinicians alike. Key features of The Black Book of Neuropsychology: Concise framework for understanding the neuropsychological referral. Symptoms/syndromes presented in a handy outline format, with dozens of charts and tables. Review of basic neurobehavioral examination procedure. Attention to professional issues, including advances in psychometrics and diagnoses, including tables for reliable change for many commonly used tests. Special “Writing Reports like You Mean It” section and guidelines for answering referral questions. Includes appendices of practical information, including neuropsychological formulary. The Little Black Book of Neuropsychology is an indispensable resource for the range of practitioners and scientists interested in brain-behavior relationships. Particular emphasis is provided for trainees in neuropsychology and neuropsychologists. However, the easy to use format and concise presentation is likely to be of particular value to interns, residents, and fellows studying neurology, neurological surgery, psychiatry, and nurses. Finally, teachers of neuropsychological and neurological assessment may also find this book useful as a classroom text. "There is no other book in the field that covers the scope of material that is inside this comprehensive text. The work might be best summed up as being a clinical neuropsychology postdoctoral residency in a book, with the most up to date information available, so that it is also an indispensible book for practicing neuropsychologists in addition to students and residents...There is really no book like this available today. It skillfully brings together the most important foundationsof clinical neuropsychology with the 'nuts and bolts' of every facet of assessment. It also reminds the more weathered neuropsychologists among us of the essential value of neuropsychological assessment...the impact of the disease on the patient’s cognitive functioning and behavior may only be objectively quantified through a neuropsychological assessment." Arch Clin Neuropsychol (2011) first published online June 13, 2011 Read the full review acn.oxfordjournals.org

Around the world societies are facing growing aging populations with the concomitant increase in neuropsychiatric disorders. Neuropsychiatric disorders are organic brain diseases with psychiatric symptoms, as in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, that cause cognitive impairment, including dementia, amnesic syndrome, and personality–behavioral changes. As a clinical science, neuropsychiatry aims to explore the complex interrelationship between behavior and brain function from a variety of perspectives, including those of psychology, neurology, and psychiatry. This concise and updated monograph comprises the latest findings in the field and includes chapters on delusional symptoms, mood disorders and neurotic symptoms, cognitive impairment, behavioral and personality changes, and recently, cerebral alterations revealed in PTSD patients and in endogenous psychoses through neuroimaging and neuropathology. These findings will certainly widen the realm of neuropsychiatry going forward and will prove of great value to specialists as well as to academics and trainees in neurology, psychiatry, neuropsychology, neuroradiology, neuropathology, neurophysiology, neurochemistry, and clinical genetics. Ultimately, neuropsychiatry aims to prevent and reduce the suffering of individuals with the psychiatric symptoms of cerebral disorders.

The care of stroke patients has changed dramatically. As well as improvements in the emergency care of the condition, there have been marked advances in our understanding, management and rehabilitation of residual deficits. This book is about the care of stroke patients, focusing on behavioural and cognitive problems. It provides a comprehensive review of the field covering the diagnostic value of these conditions, in the acute and later phases, their requirements in terms of treatment and management and the likelihood and significance of long-term disability. This book will appeal to all clinicians involved in the care of stroke patients, as well as to neuropsychologists, other rehabilitation therapists and research scientists investigating the underlying neuroscience.

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.

"Dr. Miguel Faria's journey into politics and the public health and gun control movements began when, as editor of the Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia, he studied the problem of gun violence and discovered the gun research conducted by the medical establishment was not scientific research as claimed, but politicized, result-oriented propaganda designed to bolster the preordained conclusion that guns should be eradicated from the general population. Faria and three other experts testified before a congressional subcommittee, exposing the pseudoscience of the gun research conducted by the Center for Disease Control (CDe and proposing the elimination of funds for such research. Congress agreed and passed the Dickey Amendment, restricting CDC gun research that advocates for gun control. Faria relates his adventures during his stint "within the belly" of the public health establishmentƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚"ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚€ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚" that is, his appointment by President George W. Bush as a member of a grant review committee at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPe of the CDC, the very institution he had criticized for nearly a decade! He criticizes some of the methodology used by the NCIPC and militates for a more rigorous scientific process for approval of grants in the area of injury prevention. He exposes specific flaws in several gun violence studies that attempted to link lawful gun ownership to violent crime. He argues that gun violence is not merely a consequence of "easy gun availability," but due to the cycle of government dependency, broken families, the failure of public education, and the cultural disintegration that has been taking place for decades, particularly in the poorer southern states, and for which the federal government welfare policies have been largely responsible. America, Guns, and Freedom outlines why the Second Amendment and armed self-defense are still needed in modern society, debunks the arguments that the U.S. should follow the path of European social democracies by enforcing draconian gun control, and expounds on how civilian disarmament in Australia and Great Britain, despite media hype, has not decreased violent crime in those countries. In America, Guns, and Freedom, the author warns us of the five essential ingredients required for the creation and sustenance of tyrannical governments, one of which has been civilian disarmament via gun registration followed by gun bans and confiscation. Faria discusses mass shooting incidents and the role of mental illness. Special attention is given to the problem of how media sensationalism may encourage deranged individuals and madmen to become mass shooters seeking celebrity status, even in death. While gun control advocates decry America's "gun culture," Faria informs us of the significant role that this "gun culture" played in saving England during World War II. American traditions have been and remain beacons of liberty, and this is most evident in America, Guns, and Freedom. Totalitarian governments that deny their citizens the right to keep and bear arms are a threat to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness."

In seeking a neural basis for human behaviour, several areas of the brain have been examined. It is now agreed that the temporal lobes and their downstream connections, the limbic system, are closely linked with the feeling and expression of emotional behaviour, and that lesions in this region and dysfunction of the system are associated with many severe psychopathological conditions and behavioural problems.