BackgroundHuntington's disease (HD) is a fatal inherited neurodegenerative disease, caused by a

Findings on affective processing deficits in Huntington's disease (HD) have been inconsistent. It is still not clear whether HD patients are afflicted by specific deficits in emotion recognition and experience. We tested 28 symptomatic HD patients and presented them with pictures depicting facial expressions of emotions (Karolinska-Set) and with affective scenes (International Affective Picture System; IAPS). The faces were judged according to the displayed intensity of six basic emotions, whereas the scenes received intensity ratings for the elicited emotions in the viewer. Patients' responses were compared with those of 28 healthy controls. HD patients gave lower intensity ratings for facial expressions of anger, disgust and surprise than controls. Patients' recognition deficits were associated with reduced functional capacity, such as problems with social interactions. Moreover, their classification accuracy was reduced for angry, disgusted, sad and surprised faces. When judging affective scenes for the elicitation of happiness, disgust and fear, HD patients had a tendency to estimate them as more intense than controls. This finding points to a differential impairment in emotion recognition and emotion experience in HD. We found no significant correlations between emotion experience/recognition ratings and CAG repeats, symptom duration and UHDRS Motor Assessment in the patient group.

Background: Although ideomotor limb apraxia is often considered to occur only in dementia with cortical involvement like Alzheimer’s disease (AD), it is also frequently seen in dementia with subcortical degeneration like Huntington’s disease (HD). Methods: To assess the occurrence of ideomotor limb apraxia, 46 patients with HD (27 men) and 37 patients with AD (16 men), matched for cognitive performance, were assessed with an apraxia test battery containing tests of the imitation of meaningless hand and finger gestures, the performance of meaningful gestures and of pantomimic movements. Results: There was a high frequency of ideomotor limb apraxia in both AD and HD patients. For the assessment of hands’ imitation 13.5% of the AD patients and 41.3% of the HD patients were apraxic, for fingers’ imitation 21.6% (AD) and 41.3% (HD) were apraxic, for gestures 27.0% (AD) and 32.6% (HD), and for the assessment of pantomimic movements 24.3% (AD) and 52.2% (HD) showed apraxia. In the AD patients, disease severity was related to the occurrence of apraxia. Conclusions: Ideomotor limb apraxia is a common sign in both groups of patients, occurring in a high percentage. For particular neuropsychological deficits, including ideomotor limb apraxia, a division of dementia in a subcortical and cortical subtype seems to be clinically not meaningful.

No abstract

psychiatric practice today. Antisocial personality disordered individuals are usually in conflict with the law and as such are an issue of practice dealt by forensic psychiatry. Their model of behavior and functioning usually becomes their lifestyle. Distinguishing early or prodormal signs of impulsiveness and deviant behavior is crucial in prevention of crime as that is a combination of signs which usually leads to the worst possible prognostic outcome: a permanent psychological structured predisposition towards committing crime-antisocial personality disorder, criminal psychopathy respectively. The terminology varied, depending on the professional orientation and time (psychopath, sociopath) but since the admittance of antisocial behavior in clinical psychology and psychiatry as a distinct entity, the criminals were suddenly gone; theyÕve all seem to be viewed as ill. Are they all really mentally disturbed or, are there some criminals who are ''mentally'' normal individuals? Participants, Materials/Methods: Although the criteria of the disorder are defined by the classifications, the psychodiagnostic tools used in practice can successfully detect the disorder itself but without distinguishing itsÕ subtypes, meaning, a thorough and detailed anamnesis and experience are essential in attempting to set an adequate diagnosis. Diagnostics has itsÕ own value within the forensic assessment but sometimes, it can be misleading for its assessor. A personality profile and a mental status assessment within the time frame of the actual felony, is a basis of an adequate assessment and diagnostics. Being mentally disturbed or entirely normal; therapy or sanction-the differences are enormous. Results: A case report from forensic practice: a man charged with numerous acts of heavy theft, was assessed in a combined manner (psychiatric-psychological) in separate court cases. The expertise results are going to be demonstrated comparatively. Conclusions: Results represent differences between two manners, different diagnosis in two expertises.