Catatonia across the Lifespan

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Background

Catatonia is a transnosographic psychomotor syndrome that includes motor,
affective, behavioral, and autonomic phenomena. It is an underdiagnosed and undertreated syndrome with a benign prognosis if it is treated early, and thus avoiding possible medical complications. Since the first modern description of catatonia by Kahlbaum in 1874, the syndrome has been associated with affective and medical pathologies. However, Kraepelin linked it to the Dementia Praecox construct, and Bleuler included it as part of schizophrenia, which decisively marked the historical evolution of catatonia in the first three editions of the DSM. The DSM-5 improves both the diagnostic criteria and the ability to diagnose catatonia in the context of any psychiatric or medical illness. Interest in the study of catatonia has intensified exponentially in recent years, which is reflected in the exponential increase in publications registered in Pubmed.

One of the most interesting aspects of catatonia is that it may present at any time in life associated with a wide variety of medical and psychiatric pathologies, typical of different age groups. In childhood and adolescence, it is common to find it associated with clinical entities such as autism spectrum disorders, first psychotic episodes, and encephalitis. While in elderly people, comorbidity and neurodegeneration facilitate the appearance of catatonic symptoms. All this raises unresolved questions such as differences in clinical presentation, symptomatic treatments, or the choice of the most appropriate instruments used to assess catatonia.

This Research Topic calls for all types of contributions (original studies, reviews, case reports, opinion pieces) with a focus on catatonia across the lifespan; especially research focusing on one or more of the following topics:

- the clinical presentation and aetiology of catatonia according to the age of onset;
- catatonia in neurodevelopment and
neurodegenerative disorders;
- the symptomatic course through the illness;
- the diagnostic specificity of the syndrome;
- differential diagnosis with delirium; catatonia in psychiatric disorders;
- the underlying neurobiological processes specially immune system;
- pharmacological treatment strategies.

Keywords: catatonia, psychiatry, comorbidity

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