Neuropsychiatry of Huntington's disease and other basal ganglia disorders

Degenerative diseases of the basal ganglia, such as Huntington's disease (H D), Parkinson's disease, and Wilson's disease, are characterized by motor c ognitive and psychiatric manifestations. HD, in particular can be considere d a paradigmatic neuropsychiatric disorder that has all three components of the "Triadic Syndromes": dyskinsia, dementia, and depression. The authors examine the phenomenology prevalence, and management of psychiatric disturb ances occuring in diseases of the basal ganglia. They address psychiatric c onditions such as depression, mania, psychosis, obsessive-compulsive disord ers, aggression, irritability, apathy, sexual disorders, and delirium, disc ussing subtleties of diagnosis, and making reference to more unusual disord ers of the basal ganglia, such as postencephalitic parkinsonism and Fahr's disease.