Psychopathological aspects of neuroendocrine diseases: possible parallels with the psychoendocrine aspects of normal aging.
Psychological impairments can occur during the course of major endocrine diseases. These impairments range from mild affective-cognitive-behavioral disturbances to frank psychoses. The former are rather specific for each hormonal disorder and disappear with the hormonal correction. The latter, instead, seem to be quite nonspecific and include depression, mania, schizophrenia-like and organic brain syndromes which appear at random in each endocrinopathy, not always regressing with hormonal recovery, and apparently correlating more with the severity than with the nosographic classification of the metabolic disturbances. It is suggested that age-related physiological changes of hormonal and psychological patterns mimic those occurring in neuroendocrine diseases and that, possibly, common brain biochemical changes may underlie the two phenomena.
Centro di Psiconeuroendocrinologia, Ospedale Psichiatrico Paolo Pini, Milano, Italy.
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Brambilla
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D004700:Endocrine System Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D006728:Hormones / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D009490:Neurosecretory Systems / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000502:physiology*; D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter / Q000502:physiology
D006728:Hormones; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents; D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter