Abstract
The establishment of models of brain–behaviour relationships and their application to psychiatric disorders has aided the formation of the discipline of neuropsychiatry. A generation of clinical and research psychiatrists has enjoyed the meticulous scholarship of W. A. Lishman through his text, Organic Psychiatry, first published in 1978 [1]. The discipline of child and adolescent psychiatry has recently been enriched by C. Gillberg's Clinical Child Neuropsychiatry that expounded a European view of the neurobiological bases of psychiatric disorders affecting children and adolescents [2]. Now, we have a comprehensive Textbook of Paediatric Neuropsychiatry, edited by Coffey and Brumback, to outline a complimentary American perspective.
As its title suggests, this text is vast in its scope, with over 100 clinicians and/or researchers making significant contributions. These contributions include Jerome Kagan describing aspects of normal personality development, Charles Nelson and Monica Luciana reviewing evoked potentials and event-related potentials, Bruce Perry outlining neurobiological aspects of anxiety disorders, Hans Lou exploring the neuropsychiatric aspects of cerebral palsy and hypoxic-haemodynamic brain lesions in the newborn, and Laurence Cohen and Donna Jermain defining basic principles of neuropsychopharmacology. In addition to a comprehensive overview of biological principles, aetiological theories and treatment, there are chapters on genetic evaluation, counselling and treatment, psychological and behavioural interventions, family systems interventions, psychoeducational interventions, residential and community treatment programs, and a brief chapter on pertinent legal issues.
The book is composed of five main sections. Section 1, ‘Neuropsychiatric assessment of the child and adolescent’, deals with functional circuitry of movement, cognition and behaviour, and normal growth trajectories and physical development; section 2, ‘Introduction to paediatric neuropsychiatry’, includes normal behaviour and personality development, examination techniques appropriate for different stages of development, available neuroimaging modalities and electrophysiological studies; section 3, ‘Neuropsychiatric aspects of psychiatric and behavioural disorders affecting children and adolescents’, includes psychotic disorders, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, mood disorders, and anxiety disorders; section 4, ‘Neuropsychiatric aspects of neurological disorders of children and adolescents’, covers speech and language disorders, blindness, deafness, sleep disorders, tic disorders, movement disorders, white matter diseases, neurometabolic diseases, epilepsy, neurocutaneous syndromes, cerebral dysgenesis, cerebral hypoxia, traumatic brain injury, infections of the central nervous system and paediatric brain tumours; and section 5, ‘Treatment principles’, includes basic principles of neuropsychopharmacology, specific details about antidepressant medication, mood-stabilising medications, antipsychotic and anxiolytic medication, psychostimulant and anticonvulsant medication, electroconvulsive therapy, genetic evaluation, counselling and treatment, psychological and behavioural interventions, family systems interventions, psychoeducational interventions, residential and community treatment programs, and a brief chapter on pertinent legal issues.
The collation and succinct presentation of material in this text should be applauded. The chapters on normal development of the nervous system and disturbances of brain development are particularly interesting and informative. Kagan's coverage of ‘normal’ personality development is thoughtful and appropriate, and Voeller's overview of the neurobiology of language development is clear and concise. The major problems with the book are the reductionistic summary of complex areas of current clinical research, and the personal views of some of the contributors that shape their chapters to the extent that other relevant work in the particular field is given scant attention.
This is a text that will add value to the reference library of child and adolescent psychiatrists, general psychiatrists, psychologists, paediatricians and various specialty and sub-specialty training programs.