Featured Publication
Oxford Textbook of Neuropsychiatry
A survey of over 900 trainees at the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) in the United Kingdom showed that over three-quarters of psychiatry trainees desired some knowledge and training in the field of neuropsychiatry. Recent years have given rise to a substantial global focus on integrating neurosciences and neuropsychiatry in psychiatric training. Neuropsychiatry forms an important part of the psychiatric curriculum and is examined in theory and in clinical exams. Similarly, neuropsychiatry is also of interest to neurology trainees, and it is increasingly recognised that all neurology trainees should have some knowledge and experience in neuropsychiatry. Despite this growing interest, there is a dearth of neuropsychiatry textbooks specifically geared towards trainees and other clinicians who are not specialist in the field.
Part of the Oxford Textbooks in Psychiatry series, the Oxford Textbook of Neuropsychiatry helps to bridge the gap between general psychiatric textbooks and reference texts in neuropsychiatry. Organised into four sections, the book covers the basic knowledge and skills relevant to neuropsychiatry, the various neuropsychiatric conditions, the principles of treatment, and perspectives for neuropsychiatry worldwide. Chapters have been written by international experts who are leaders in their own fields with the view to taking an evidence-based, up-to-date, global perspective on neuropsychiatric problems and treatment.
The book is relevant to trainees in psychiatry, neurology, neurorehabilitation and also to various allied professionals in neuroscience and mental health. It covers core knowledge and skills for practice in all psychiatric disciplines including core knowledge for training in neuropsychiatry. The book meets curriculum requirements for various international training programmes and examinations, and serves as an essential training textbook for all psychiatric and neurology trainees worldwide.
Bodani, M., & Wilkinson, D. (August 2020). Neuro-stimulation in Neurological and Neuropsychiatric disorders. In Agrawal, Faruqui, Bodani (Eds.), Oxford Textbook of Neuropsychiatry. Oxford University Press.
Publications
Cognition in vestibular disorders: state of the field, challenges, and priorities for the future
Frontiers in Neurology, 18 January 2024
Vestibular disorders are prevalent and debilitating conditions of the inner ear and brain which affect balance, coordination, and the integration of multisensory inputs. A growing body of research has linked vestibular disorders to cognitive problems, most notably attention, visuospatial perception, spatial memory, and executive function. However, the mechanistic bases of these cognitive sequelae remain poorly defined, and there is a gap between our theoretical understanding of vestibular cognitive dysfunction, and how best to identify and manage this within clinical practice. This article takes stock of these shortcomings and provides recommendations and priorities for healthcare professionals who assess and treat vestibular disorders, and for researchers developing cognitive models and rehabilitation interventions. We highlight the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration for developing and evaluating clinically relevant theoretical models of vestibular cognition, to advance research and treatment.
Read MoreThe Psychiatric Eye – Autumn 2021 Edition
Read Dr Bodani’s article (p16) about the importance of mental health for Olympians pushed into the media spotlight
Read MoreClinical neuroscience and long covid
June 15, 2021 BMJ Opinion
As of the 8 June 2021, there have been over 170 million cases of covid-19 and 3.7 million deaths worldwide. In the UK, over 4.5 million cases have been reported with a total of approximately 127,500 deaths. [1,2] However, it is well recognised that case numbers and deaths from covid-19 globally are probably under reported.
Beyond the acute symptoms of covid-19, there is the spectre of long covid for many. Estimates suggest that long covid symptoms are found in 13% of patients at 28 days and in 22% 5-12 weeks from the onset of acute infection [3-6]. We simply do not yet know the full scale of the problem.
Long covid may be the result of several possible pathological mechanisms that have not yet been conclusively determined [3,7,8]. A spectrum of risk factors is likely, such as severe acute infection and a lengthy in-patient stay. Demographic factors may play a part—older women and people with a high body mass index seem particularly affected. Neurological and neuropsychiatric symptoms in long covid such as autonomic dysfunction and fatigue are likely to be some of the most challenging problems to understand and treat. Autonomic dysfunction may be found to be a risk factor for symptom persistence, as well as a possible mechanism involved in long covid. [9] To understand the clinical implications of long covid fully, however, more information is required.
So far little evidence is available to guide the management of long covid in clinical practice. Physical and psychological rehabilitation is needed, but only generalised treatment is possible until we understand the patterns and factors causing persistent symptoms. Recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for routine blood, cardiac, and respiratory function tests do not include assessment of neuropsychiatric, neurological, and pain symptoms even though these predominate in surveys of patients with long covid. [3] We argue that in-depth assessment from these specialities will provide a more holistic approach to managing patients with long covid. To achieve this, it is necessary for clinical services to be re-aligned to cover shortfalls in funding, staff, and clinical leadership to deliver longterm care to these patients. The economic fallout from the pandemic means that such resources may be scarce for the foreseeable future, but generic treatments based on “traditional” rehabilitation models may waste valuable time and money unless specific patient vulnerabilities are first identified. To achieve this, evidence should be synthesised in a “living” format such as a living systematic review (LSR). LSR is defined by the Cochrane community as a systematic review that is continually updated, incorporating relevant new evidence as it becomes available, allowing better use of data from existing electronic health records to enable evidence-based practice.
To date, it is unknown whether covid-19 variants affect the risk of long covid. Different variants seem to affect virulence and acute symptoms, such as anosmia, but it remains unknown whether new variants could trigger unexpected post-infectious symptoms, emulating the possible link between the 1918 influenza pandemic, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and encephalitis lethargica. [11] Furthermore, it remains to be seen whether vaccination in those previously infected affects the risk of long covid.
The fear of influenza-covid co-infection did not materialise until late in 2020. Strict covid-19 restrictions are now being eased in many parts of the world, including the UK. Only time will tell whether this will increase the risk of joint or sequential infections in the future. Covid and influenza vaccinations may reduce the risk of the overall burden of severe acute infection but may not affect prolonged post-infectious symptoms.
Collecting epidemiological data, identifying symptom clusters, and evaluating representative patients on the basis of these could provide insights into long covid. Life-course epidemiological methods may be useful when constructing studies to explore long covid. Intensive clinical research that could be set up rapidly alongside evidence synthesis may lead to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of long covid. Furthermore, such research may benefit patients with pre-existing neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and chronic fatigue syndrome. [12]
Considerable health resources have been expended on tackling acute covid infections. The successful vaccination roll-out in the UK and internationally promises to reduce acute infection, disease severity, and transmission. The same investment is needed to better understand long covid, and for clinical services to develop long term treatments.
MS Chong, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery London Queen Square and Cleveland Street
Ashish Shetty, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery London Queen Square and Cleveland Street and University College London NHS Foundation Trust
Shane Delamont, Kings College Hospital London
Mayur Bodani, Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust and School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury
Peter Phiri, Research & Development Department, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust and Primary Care, Population Sciences and Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton
Gayathri Delanerolle, University of Oxford, Oxford
Acknowledgements: This paper is part of the multifaceted EPIC project that is sponsored by Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust and in collaboration with the University of Oxford.
Competing interests: PP has received research grant from Novo Nordisk, and other, educational from Queen Mary University of London, other from John Wiley & Sons, other from Otsuka, outside the submitted work. GD has received funding from the NIHR. All other authors report no conflict of interests for this article.
The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research, the Department of Health and Social Care or the academic institutions.
References:
- WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard. Retrieved from https://covid19.who.int/
- Davis HE, Assaf GS, Lisa McCorkell L et al, Characterizing Long COVID in an International Cohort: 7 Months of Symptoms and Their Impact. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.24.20248802
- NIHR. Living with covid-19. A dynamic review of the evidence around ongoing covid-19 symptoms (often called long covid). October 2020. https://evidence.nihr.ac.uk/themedreview/living-with-covid19.
- COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing the long-term effects of COVID-19 NICE guideline [NG188] https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng188
- Sudre CH, Murray B, Varsavsky T et. al., Attributes and predictors of Long-COVID: analysis of COVID cases and their symptoms collected by the Covid Symptoms Study App https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.19.20214494
- The prevalence of long COVID symptoms and COVID-19 complications https://www.ons.gov.uk/news/statementsandletters/theprevalenceoflongcovidsymptomsandcovid19complications
- Dennis A, Malgorzata W, Kapur S, et. al., Multi-organ impairment in low-risk individuals with long COVID
- Goldstein DS. The extended autonomic system, dyshomeostasis, and COVID‑19. Clinical Autonomic Research https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-020-00714-0
- Dani M, Dirksen AA, Taraborrelli P et. al., Autonomic dysfunction in ‘long COVID’: rationale, physiology and management strategies. Clinical Medicine 2021 Vol 21, No 1: e63–7
- Giordiano A, Schwarz G, Cacciaguerra L, Esposito F, Massimo F. COVID-19: can we learn from encephalitis lethargica? Lancet Neurol. 2020 Jul; 19(7): 570
- Penner I-K and Friedemann P. Fatigue as a symptom or comorbidity of neurological diseases. Nat Rev Neurol. 2017 Nov;13(11):662-675
Read More
Short-term memory impairment in vestibular patients can arise independently of psychiatric impairment, fatigue and sleeplessness
Journal of Neuropsychology, 1-15. doi:10.1111/jnp.12157 Smith, L., Wilkinson, D., Bodani, M., Bicknell, R., & Surenthiran, S. (2018).
Read MoreCaloric vestibular stimulation for the management of motor and non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease
Wilkinson, D., Podlewska, A., Banducci, S., Pellat-Higgins, M.S., Bodani, M., Sakel, M., Smith, L., Ade, K. (2018). In Parkinsonism & Related Disorders
Read More
Aggression following traumatic brain injury: effectiveness of risperidone (AFTER): study protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial.
Deb, S., Leeson, V., Aimola, L., Bodani, M. et al. (2018). In Trials Jun21; 19(1):325
Read MoreConferences & Workshops
The Neuropsychiatric Sequelae of Vestibular Disorders
Smith, L., Wilkinson, D., Bodani, M., Bicknell, R., & Surenthiran, S. (2016). In International Neuropsychology Society Mid-Year Meeting. London. Retrieved from http://www.the-ins.org/2016-Mid-Year-London
Cognitive and psychiatric co-morbidities in patients with vestibular disorder
Smith, L., Wilkinson, D., Bodani, M., Bicknell, R., & Surenthiran, S. (2016). In American Academy of Neurology Conference. Vancouver.
Read MoreCaloric Vestibular Stimulation (CVS) in Low Awareness States
Vanzan, S., Wilkinson, D., Ferguson, H., Dhamapurkar, S., Bodani, M., & Sakel, M. (2014).
In 11th Conference of the Neuropsychological Rehabilitation Special Interest Group of the World Federation of NeuroRehabilitation (WFNR).
Read MoreCaloric vestibular stimulation in traumatic brain injury: Study protocol
Smith, L., Wilkinson, D., Bodani, M., Sakel, M., & Ferguson, H. (2014).
In British Psychological Society Division of Neuropsychology Annual Conference. London.
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