Neuropsychiatry is an exciting and rapidly growing field that promotes an improved understanding of the brain and mind relationship. It seeks to elucidate the neurocircuitry involved in primary psychiatric symptoms and syndromes such as mood, anxiety, psychotic, and somatic symptom disorders, and in neurological disorders that present with cognitive, emotional, or behavioral problems. The goal of neuropsychiatry is to advance diagnostic processes and treatment options for patients suffering from these disorders.

Healthcare professionals need to formulate an integrated understanding of neuropsychiatric disorders and implement interventions aligned with such an integrated vision. Interventions include the adaptation of psychotherapy interventions for patients with cognitive deficits, a judicious use of psychopharmacological agents, and appropriate use of brain stimulation therapies or referrals to specialists who use these techniques. They need to become familiar with medical conditions that could manifest with neuropsychiatric symptoms and know how to treat them, refer to other specialists, or work collaboratively with medical subspecialists. Ideally, neuropsychiatric conditions require comprehensive evaluations and evidence-based therapeutic approaches delivered by interdisciplinary teams.

This course is designed to enhance participants’ knowledge of brain-behavior relationships and their skills for the diagnostic work-up and treatment of patients with neuropsychiatric disorders. Harvard Medical School faculty will review cutting-edge clinical research, evidence-based interventions, and practical guidelines for the clinician. The course content will include the functional neuroanatomy of emotions, cognition, and behavior, the fundamentals of the neuropsychiatric exam and relevant ancillary tests, and neuropsychopharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions in neuropsychiatric disorders. We will discuss the neuropsychiatric aspects of traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, neurodegenerative disorders, neuroinflammatory disorders, multiple sclerosis, functional neurological disorders, sleep disorders, Tourette Syndrome, and other neurodevelopmental disorders, addiction, pain, and other disorders. Learners will benefit from a variety of educational formats, including lectures, panel discussions, case discussions, question-and-answer sessions, and an electronic syllabus.