Neuropsichiatria e neurocultura

Over the last few years, relevant developments have been achieved in the “frontier” medical disciplines of neuropsychiatry and behavioral neurology. One of the aims of these fields is to transcend the conceptual dichotomy between psychiatric conditions due to alterations of the “mind” and neurological conditions due to structural lesions of the “brain”. Within this new theoretical framework, neuropsychiatry combines expertise coming from psychiatry, neurology and neuropsychology in order to investigate the complex relationship between behavioral manifestations and functional-organic impairments in the neuropsychiatric patient. On this basis, neuropsychiatry aims to understand behavioral disorders through the interactions of psychological and neurobiological factors. Moreover, the study of exemplar neuropsychiatric pathologies – such as Parkinson disease, Tourette syndrome and the different types of epilepsy – can provide valuable insights into the understanding of essential features of human nature: consciousness, the concept of self and personal identity. The development of integrated disciplines such as neuropsychiatry, which promotes a holistic approach to the study of the mind/brain system, has been supported by unprecedented developments in the methodologies to study nervous system activity in vivo, especially neuroimaging techniques. Neuroscientific evidence confirms that every aspect of human behavior correlates with specific patters of brain activity. Put into perspective, these studies represent new promising fields of scientific inquiry and can provide relevant contributions toward a refreshing dialogue between humanities and biological sciences.