Neurol. praxi. 2009;10(2):75-79

Depressive disorders in selected neurological affections

MUDr. Radovan Hrubý

Psychiatrická klinika MFN a UK JLF v Martine

Depressive disorder is one of the most frequently occuring mental disorders. The course of depression is often complicated by relapses,

recurrence, chronicity and subsyndromic manifestations. Depressive disorder occurs independently of other somatic or mental conditions.

Also, we distinguish so called organic or symptomatic depressive disorder accompanying many somatic disorders and being recognized as

the most common neuropsychiatric comorbidity. It often occurs in strokes, Alzheimer´s disease and other dementias, Parkinson´s disease,

epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and other neurological disorders. It is well known, clinical features of depressive disorder may markedly differ

from these in organic depression. Despite the progress of knowledge, pathogenesis of depression still remains not adequate understood.

It is conceptualized as a dysfunction of prefrontal cortex – amygdala/hippocampus – thalamus – basal ganglia circuit in terms of functional

neuroanatomy. The modern molecular research aims at disturbances of transnuclear signalization, transcriptional and nerve growth

factors and gene expression. Depression is a disorder with complex manifestations of emotivity, affectivity, motivation, cognition and

motoric, nerovegetative and endocrine functions. Because of very frequent occurence in neurological disorders, depression could be

considered as a prototype of neuropsychiatric disorder, which requires complex strategy in diagnostics, treatment and research.

Keywords: depression, neurological disorders, neuropsychiatry, organic.

Published: May 1, 2009  Show citation