Editorial: Neurology and psychiatry: “Oh, East is East and West is West …” || FREE PAPER ||

Johan A Aarli

University of Bergen, Norway; First Vice President of the World Federation of Neurology

Neurology and psychiatry: “Oh, East is East and West is West …”

“…and never the twain shall meet”. However far removed, the two specialties do have a common root. The main difference has been that disorders with behavioral disturbances came to be regarded as mainly “functional” without a structural basis, while neurology concerned itself with symptoms having an origin in organic changes. Neurology has matured as a separate clinical specialty with close contacts with biology and similarities with internal medicine. At the same time, the influence of socioeconomic, familial, and interpersonal relationship brought a new dimension to clinical psychiatry. The two specialties drifted away from each other.