A NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE FRONTOSTRIATAL INVOLVEMENT IN CHILDHOOD PSYCHIATRIC SYNDROMES

The paper surveys the clinical profile of childhood executive disorders and then presents the test battery adopted and elaborated to investigate these types of disorders. The Hungarian studies done on several hundred clinical and control subjects allow for a careful analysis of comorbidity patterns as well. ADHD was accompanied by a challenge to all prefrontal functions, while Tourette syndrome was typically accompanied by impaired prefrontal inhibitory functions. At the same time the obsessive-compulsive disorder was not accompanied by impairments in the dorsolateral circle. Emotional decisions were impaired in this as well, however. In anorexia nervosa the prefrontal system was challenged while according to our neuropsychological data it is a symptom alike obsessive-compulsive disorder.