The Science of Neuropsychiatry: Past, Present, and Future

The field of neuropsychiatry aims to overcome the separation of neurology and psychiatry, which is reflected in a gap between the neurologist, searching for the underlying neuroanatomical basis of a disorder, and the psychiatrist, dipping into its phenomenology and underlying genetics. This gap becomes slighter in our day, as recent research in clinical neurosciences enables us to better investigate the neural basis of neuropsychiatric disorders. This article reviews the history and development of neuropsychiatry in the occidental world, suggesting that the science of neuropsychiatry could optimize for the diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of behavioral, cognitive, and so-called mental disorders.