Catatonia

Dr. Dusan Hirjak, MD, is a psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and clinician-scientist, who specializes in the diagnosis, treatment and research of catatonia. Bridging clinical practice and scientific inquiry, Dr. Hirjak derives research questions from everyday patient care, employing cutting-edge methodologies to deepen understanding and improve therapeutic approaches for this complex neuropsychiatric condition. Georg Northoff, MD, Ph.D., FRCP, is a psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and philosopher who pioneers research on the brain-mind relationship, particularly in catatonia. His work explores how the brain generates mental phenomena like self and consciousness, driven by the question: 'why and how does the brain construct mental features?'

• Foreword Gregory Fricchione; Foreword Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg; Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Historical origins of catatonia; 2. Different conceptual frameworks of catatonia; 3. Phenomenology and subjective experience of catatonia – clinical cases; 4. Epidemiology of catatonia; 5. Clinical manifestation, complexity of catatonic signs, differential diagnoses and potential somatic consequences; 6. Clinical, laboratory and neuroimaging assessments relevant for the diagnostic work-up of catatonia; 7. Management and treatment of catatonia; 8. Outcome and course of catatonia; 9. Most common neuroinflammatory origins of catatonia; 10. Brain networks underlying catatonia; 11. Breaking new ground: novel approaches to understanding catatonia and the brain-mind relationship; Index.