Temporal Lobe Syndromes

Temporal lobes are one of the four major lobes of the cerebral cortex and perform a complex array of interrelated functions. They play an important role in various day-to-day functioning. The common pathologies leading to isolated temporal lobe dysfunction are infarction (of the middle cerebral artery), hemorrhage, seizures, tumors, encephalitis, and traumatic brain injury. Temporal lobe syndromes include a wide array of various neurological (Kluver-Bucy syndrome, Geschwind Gastaut syndrome, etc.), elementary (e.g., vertiginous syndromes, hallucinations, etc.), neuropsychiatric (e.g., anxiety, agitation, aggression, etc.), and cognitive (e.g., Korsakoff amnesia, cortical deafness, etc.) disorders. The presentation depends on a multitude of factors including involvement of dominant or non-dominant lobe. Left temporal lobe involvement usually leads to various forms of aphasia while right side involvement leads to more covert and varied syndromes. In this chapter, the authors discuss the anatomy of the temporal lobe, its functional aspects, and various syndromes of temporal lobe dysfunction.

Anatomy of the Brain

Neuroanatomy is a specific branch within neuroscience that deals with brain anatomy. Its broad area includes the brain structure, organization, and localization/networks of the nervous system. It also helps in understanding the sensorimotor systems, along with associated function like learning, behavior, vision, attention, language, and so on. In the present chapter, the author comprehensively discussed the brain basic morphology, architecture, and also some functional aspects of the brain. At the end of this chapter, the author included the tool and techniques used in the study of brain anatomy so that student can learn and understand the topic clearly.

Neuropsychological Profile of Various Neurological and Psychiatric Conditions

In the current chapter, the neuropsychological profile of various neurological and psychiatric conditions is focused on, including two major divisions (i.e., dementia—cortical and sub-cortical—and major mental disorders—substance use disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, sleep disorders, childhood disorders, personality disorders, and sexual disorders). Both divisions have sub-classifications that include introduction, etiopathogenesis, epidemiology, clinical features, evaluation, treatment, and psychosocial aspects.

Parietal and Occipital Lobe Syndromes

The human brain is the most important as well as the most complex organ in the human body. From previous chapters, we by now know that the cerebral cortex is the part of the brain that functions to make human beings unique. Distinctly human traits including higher thought, language, and human consciousness as well as the ability to think, reason, and imagine all originate in the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is the outermost portion that can be divided into the four lobes of the brain. Each bump on the surface of the brain is known as a gyrus, while each groove is known as a sulcus. In this chapter, the authors discuss the parietal and occipital lobes of the cortex. It then highlights their functional issues.

Neurobiology of Sensory Motor Systems and Internal Environment

Control of motor function—our activities like walking, lifting an object, writing, etc.—is accomplished through integrated and coordinated action of motor neurons. Motor neurons can be classified into two broad categories: upper motor neurons and lower motor neurons. Upper motor neurons have cell bodies in the motor cortex of brain and carry the impulses from cortex to spinal cord segment. Cell bodies of lower motor neurons are located in the anterior horn of spinal cord. Axons of lower motor neuron end in neuromuscular junction, and excitation of muscle fibres leads contraction of muscle. Different types of receptors carry different sensations like touch, pain, position, and vibration through sensory nerve fibres. Fibers mediating fine touch and proprioception ascend in the dorsal columns to the medulla, where they synapse in the gracile and cuneate nuclei. This chapter explores the neurobiology of sensory motor systems and the internal environment.

Neuropsychological Assessment

This chapter will cover the basic concepts of neuropsychological assessment. This chapter will cover the main issues involved while assessing the person with brain damage. The process of neuropsychological assessment, relevant history for the purpose of comprehensive reporting of findings and responding to the referral questions, better understating of the goals of assessment, selection of the assessment approaches, issues involved in administration of the tests, theories involved while interpreting the test findings, and reporting of findings of the assessment will help the reader to understand holistic view of the individual's capacities.

Functional Human Brain Mapping

Neuroimaging plays a crucial role in psychiatry and mental health as it can potentially be used to identify causal factors, biomarkers of a disorder, prognosis or treatment, elucidate biological pathways along with informing and monitoring newer therapies. Early and prophylactic interventions present an emerging future direction in clinical psychiatry, and neuroimaging has the potential to help in identification of individuals at risk and monitor the effects of intervention. In the chapter an attempt is made to elaborate the concept of brain mapping, and differences between structural and functional brain imaging are discussed. The chapter focusses on advent of neuroimaging in psychiatry along with discussing the major functional neuroimaging techniques.

Biochemistry of the Brain

Biochemistry is the cornerstone of biological science, feeding the new discoveries and providing us essential and fundamental discoveries vital to understand natural science. Biochemistry has been long recognized as a central pillar in neurochemistry, especially the imbalance of the enzyme that leads to the faulty functioning of the brain. Furthermore, we had also comprehensively discussed the metabolic and genetic aspect of major mental disorders and the genetics of intellectual disability and behavioral disorders.

Biopsychology

The study of biopsychology seeks to describe the physiological mechanisms of the body that mediate our movement and mental activity. Biopsychology focuses on biological basis of behavior (i.e., how brain and other biological processes affect psychological behaviors). Biopsychology is also known as biological psychology or psychobiology. Biopsychology is the application of the principles of biology to the study of mental processes and behavior that is the study of psychology in terms of bodily mechanisms.

Foundations of Neuropsychology

Neuropsychology is one of the branches in neuroscience (or sub-branch of psychology) that seeks to understand the brain structure and further relates it with specific human behavior and psychological processes. Neuropsychology's central aim is to understand how the brain produces behavior, mental processes, and cognition and then applies it for diagnosis and treatment of different behavioral and cognitive defects in various neurological disorders. Neuropsychology is a field that draws information and material from neurology, cognitive psychology, and psychiatry and also act as a junction point for investigators belonging to related disciplines. Its central aim is to understand how brain functioning influences behavior and cognition. Further, the chapter discusses the relationship between structure and function of the brain, the rise of neuropsychology as a distinct discipline, logic of cerebral organization, and localization and lateralization of functions. Finally, the authors had also explain the approaches and methodologies of clinical and cognitive neuropsychologists.