About this Research Topic

Background

A variety of terms have been used to describe reduced awareness in patients suffering from different types of neurological disorders:

1) Anosognosia typically describes a failure to acknowledge a particular neuropsychological deficit concerning specific modular functions (perception, action or language);
2) Lack of insight usually describes the lack of introspective knowledge in psychiatric illness;
3) Awareness of illness which is referred to the knowledge of patients to recognize their disturbances and errors. A reduction in self-awareness related to executive dysfunction is well described in different neurodegenerative disorders (i.e. Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, bv-FTD, Huntington's disease).

Numerous studies have emphasized that patients with a more pronounced frontal hypoperfusion may develop unawareness of their deficits even during the disease early stages.

Within an investigative neurocognitive approach, theoretical models of unawareness might have a greater clinical utility by allowing integration of neurobiological and neuropsychological levels of explanation.

This Research Topic aims to provide new and in-depth knowledge dealing with the presence of a reduced awareness of illness in neuropsychiatric patients.

Investigations will include results focused on patients suffering from different etiopathogenesis neurocognitive disorders, whether minor or major, from neurodegenerative disorders to focal lesions in vascular and traumatic disorders.

Contributors may present their research work based on any available scientific method that directly links brain function with cognitive processes, including neuropsychological tools and test batteries, structural and functional brain imaging techniques, cognitive electrophysiology techniques.
This Research Topic will publish theoretical, experimental (including single cases studies), methodological and applied studies that promote an in-depth understanding of human cognition and behavior from a neurocognitive perspective.

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Keywords: Illness Unawareness, Assessment, Theoretical models, Executive Dysfunctions, Neurodegenerative and vascular brain injuries, Neuroimaging, Electrophysiological Techniques

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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