Psychosis in neurodegenerative disorders: recent developments

Abstract

Purpose of review: This review presents the latest developments covered in the literature regarding psychosis in neurodegenerative disorders and discusses possible future research directions.

Recent findings: Recent findings in the field of psychosis and neurodegenerative disorders revolve around four main themes. The first theme is the impact of sex on the expression of psychosis in neurodegenerative disorders. The second theme focuses on the relationship between psychosis and neurodegenerative disease biomarkers. The third concerns how psychotic symptoms in neurodegenerative disorders may share common mechanisms with other primary psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Finally, there have been some promising developments in the area of therapeutics to treat dementia-related psychosis involving both established and novel treatments.

Summary: New findings in the field of neurodegeneration and psychosis parallel new directions in the field of neurodegeneration in general. More specifically, we have seen a shift in focus to issues highlighting the role of sex, biomarkers, translation to other disorders, and therapeutics.