Organic brain syndrome: what it is, causes and associated symptoms

Among the clinical pictures associated with different alterations in cognitive activity is the organic brain syndrome. Although it is a term, it has fallen out of use in some contexts; This is a category especially used to relate psychiatric manifestations with the functioning of organic structures.

In this article we will see what organic brain syndrome is, by what other names it is known and what mental and physiological states it refers to.

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What is organic brain syndrome?

Organic Brain Syndrome is also known by the following names: organic brain disease, organic brain disorder, an organic mental syndrome, or organic mental disorder. It is characterized by being a condition whose cause is related to the physiological structure, rather than with pure mental activity (for this reason it is known as an "organic" syndrome).

It is not a specific diagnostic criterion, but a general classification, which encompasses a set of clinical manifestations whose common characteristic is to be caused or related to the structures physical.

In other words, there are medical conditions that directly alter the physiological activity of the nervous system. This alteration can become visible in behavior, in mood or in subjective and cognitive experiences (such as in their thoughts, beliefs, perceptions, sensations, etc.).

In some cases, this causes clinically significant distress, leading to a psychiatric diagnosis. With the intention of make an evaluation and an intervention that takes into account the physiological elements that may be behind the behaviors or cognitive activity that cause said discomfort, the category of organic brain syndrome was created. However, and although it is a concept that has been very frequent within the psychiatric clinic, it has currently undergone some modifications.

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Two main types of organic brain syndrome have been recognized, They are distinguished mainly by the time of appearance.

1. Sharp

It means that it is a mental state of recent appearance. may be caused from intoxication or overdose of psychoactive substances, infections and medical illnesses that affect the nervous system. They are usually temporary episodes, although they can occur on different occasions. For example, it may be the case of delirium.

2. Chronic

These are the manifestations that are maintained in the long term. This is usually the case of chronic dependence on psychoactive substances such as drugs or alcohol, whose toxic effects on brain structures can significantly modify neuronal functions and cognitive. In addition may be the case of neurodegenerative disorders, different types of dementia or can occur as a result of cardiovascular accidents.

Origin of the concept and associated symptoms

In the context of modern psychiatry, the term "Organic Brain Syndrome" (and its synonyms) was used to differentiate between purely mental etiology, and the etiology was clearly related to functioning physiological. However, with the subsequent knowledge and theories about the functioning of the human mind and its relationship with both brain structures, such a distinction has been increasingly disregarded.

In the words of Ganguli, Black, Blazer, et al. (2011) the term "organic" suggested that there was a known brain structure that caused some manifestations. Said structure was different from another, which was called "functional" and encompassed all the manifestations that had a purely mental etiology.

But, with the development and transformations of cognitive science and neuroscience, psychiatry has rejected the false disconnect between the organic and non-organic functional structures, which ultimately resulted in a distinction between mental manifestations and those of the brain. Currently, psychiatry maintains that the brain (organic structures) is actually the basis of mental or functional structures.

However, the term Cerebral Organic Syndrome continues to be used as a way to describe states of consciousness and their relationship with different elements and physiological causes. As with the medical categories, the latter facilitates communication between experts, especially those who have been trained in the psychiatric tradition where the category of "Organic Syndrome Cerebral" allowed to carry out different investigations and clinical approaches.

For example, the journal Rheumatology (cited in Sciencedirect, 2018), in its sixth version, defines Organic Brain Syndrome as a state of brain dysfunction associated with disturbances in consciousness, cognition, affect, or mood; caused by behavior during drug withdrawal; due to infections or metabolic causes.

Neurocognitive Disorders Task Force Suggestions

For its part, the working group on neurocognitive disorders of the American Psychological Association, which was integrated to form the fifth version of its Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, has accepted the use of the term "neurocognitive" to refer to clinical manifestations where the mind acts as a result of alterations in the brain. Thus arises the classification of "Neurocognitive disorders associated with medical causes" (for example, postoperative neurocognitive dysfunction.).

Broadly speaking, the manifestations that are included in this category are visible in complex attention, learning and memory, the executive functions, language, visuoconstructive perception and social cognition).