Deep brain stimulation for aggressive behavior and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Drug-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder and aggressive behavior are two severely disabling psychiatric conditions which may carry a certain burden on the patients themselves and on their families. In the last decade, the fields of interests of deep brain stimulation (DBS) also encompass psychiatric disorders, supported by imaging and neurophysiological techniques. We here report our institutional experience with the two above-mentioned disorders, describing the procedure commonly employed and the results obtained.

Capgras delusion for animals and inanimate objects in Parkinson's Disease: a case report.

Background: Capgras delusion is a delusional misidentification syndrome, in which the patient is convinced that someone that is well known to them, usually a close relative, has been replaced by an impostor or double. Although it has been frequently described in psychotic syndromes, including paranoid schizophrenia, over a third of the documented cases of Capgras delusion are observed in patients with organic brain lesions or neurodegenerative disease, including Parkinson's Disease. Variants of Capgras involving animals or inanimate objects have also been described.

Deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens and bed nucleus of stria terminalis for obsessive-compulsive disorder: a case series.

Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric condition defined by the presence of obsessions, compulsions, or both. It has a lifetime prevalence of 2%-3% and causes significant impairment in social and work functioning, as well as a reduced quality of life. Treatment includes pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy, but a significant number of patients fail to respond to treatment.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder presenting with musical obsessions in otosclerosis: a case report.

Introduction: Musical obsessions consist of intrusive recollections of music fragments that are experienced as unwanted. Otosclerosis is caused by an abnormal bone homeostasis of the otic capsule and represents a frequent cause of hearing impairment. Many conditions causing hearing loss have been associated with musical hallucinations, but the association between musical obsessions and hearing loss is frequently overlooked.

First- and third-person perspectives in psychotic disorders and mood disorders with psychotic features.

Lack of insight, very frequent in schizophrenia, can be considered a deficit in Theory of Mind (ToM) performances, and is also found in other psychiatric disorders. In this study, we used the first- to third-person shift to examine subjects with psychotic and psychotic mood disorders. 92 patients were evaluated with SANS and SAPS scales and asked to talk about their delusions.