This review presents the latest developments covered in the literature regarding psychosis in neurodegenerative disorders and discusses possible future research directions.
Recent findings in the field of psychosis and neurodegenerative disorders revolve around four main themes. The first theme is the impact of sex on the expression of psychosis in neurodegenerative disorders. The second theme focuses on the relationship between psychosis and neurodegenerative disease biomarkers. The third concerns how psychotic symptoms in neurodegenerative disorders may share common mechanisms with other primary psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Finally, there have been some promising developments in the area of therapeutics to treat dementia-related psychosis involving both established and novel treatments.
New findings in the field of neurodegeneration and psychosis parallel new directions in the field of neurodegeneration in general. More specifically, we have seen a shift in focus to issues highlighting the role of sex, biomarkers, translation to other disorders, and therapeutics.
aKeenan Research Centre for Biomedical Research, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital
bFaculty of Medicine, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto
cCentre for Addiction and Mental Health
dInstitute of Medical Sciences
eInstitute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering
fFaculty of Medicine, Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto
gDivision of Neurosurgery, St. Michael's Hospital
hDepartment of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto
iDivision of Pathology, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Correspondence to Corinne E. Fischer, MD, Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Research, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON M5B 1T8, Canada. Tel: +416 864 5320; fax: +416 864 5480; e-mail: FischerC@smh.ca
