Neurologists' detection and recognition of mental disorder in a tertiary in-patient neurological unit.

Aims and method Psychiatric disorders are common in neurological in-patients, but they are under-recognised and undertreated. We investigated the frequency of detection of mental disorder and referral to psychiatric services in a regional neuroscience centre. The results were compared with the expected prevalence. All in-patient referrals received in 2014 from the in-patient wards of the regional neuroscience centre and acute neurological unit were reviewed. RESULTS: A total of 129 ward referrals were identified; of these, 78 were from the regional in-patient neurological unit, which comprised 11.4% of the total of 679 admissions to that unit. Clinical implications A spectrum of neuropsychiatric conditions were recognised by neurologists, but overall rates of recognition were low. To address the problem of under-recognition, routine screening with validated assessment tools can represent a cost-effective and acceptable method to detect psychiatric disorders in an in-patient neurological setting. Declaration of Interest None.

The functional anatomical distinction between truth telling and deception is preserved among people with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: A recently emergent functional neuroimaging literature has described the functional anatomical correlates of deception among healthy volunteers, most often implicating the ventrolateral prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices. To date, there have been no such imaging studies of people with severe mental illness. AIMS: To discover whether the brains of people with schizophrenia would manifest a similar functional anatomical distinction between the states of truthfulness and deceit. It is hypothesised that, as with healthy people, persons with schizophrenia will show activation in the ventrolateral prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices when lying. METHOD: Fifty-two people satisfying Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder-IV criteria for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging at 3 T while responding truthfully or with lies to questions concerning their recent actions. Half the sample was concurrently experiencing delusions. RESULTS: As hypothesised, patients exhibited greater activity in ventrolateral prefrontal cortices while lying. Truthful responses were not associated with any areas of relatively increased activation. The presence or absence of delusions did not substantially affect these findings, although subtle laterality effects were discernible upon post hoc analyses. CONCLUSIONS: As in healthy cohorts, the brains of people with schizophrenia exhibit a functional anatomical distinction between the states of truthfulness and deceit. Furthermore, this distinction pertains even in the presence of delusions.