Возможности нейропсихологической диагностики психических расстройств в практике судебной психиатрии

Abstract

Objective of the Review: To justify possible use of neuropsychological assessment of cognitive impairments in some most common mental disorders encountered in forensic psychiatry, using analysis of the classic and modern empiric studies conducted with the help of psychometric and brain imaging methods. Key Points. The biopsychological and social nature of disorders associated with a mental pathology can form the methodological basis to choose various diagnostic procedures to study mental disorders. Analysis of biological and psychological aspects within such an approach can be associated with diagnostics of neurocognitive impairments. The term “neurocognitive impairments”, meaning cognitive disorders causing impaired fulfilment of professional, social and community functions, is now commonly used by psychiatrists and psychologists, and soon it will be officially included into diagnosable disorders of the International Classification of Diseases, revision 11. The article discusses justification of introduction of operational methods to assess cognitive dysfunction, in particular of neuropsychological assessment, into forensic psychiatry to ensure that expert conclusions made during borderline mental disorder assessment are valid. Conclusion. The use of neuropsychological methods for cognitive disorder assessment in psychiatry, especially in forensic examinations, is a promising tool for identification of actual cognitive impairments with the possibility to locally diagnose dysfunctions and dimensionally assess the intensity of neurocognitive disorders. Keywords: neuropsychology, cognitive functions, organic mental disorders, expert assessment outlooks.