Recent developments in neuroscience allow for increased understanding of the brain and cognition, emotion, perception and behavior. Experts in the Center for Brain/Mind Medicine are clinicians and researchers trained in a variety of disciplines bridging the mind/brain interface. They utilize this understanding to provide evaluation and treatment to patients with complex clinical pictures that may not be fully understood within the traditional boundaries of neurology and/or psychiatry.
This integrated neuropsychiatric approach is ideal for patients with dementia, multiple sclerosis, movement disorders, epilepsy, tumor, stroke and head trauma who are experiencing difficulties with, or changes in, cognition, emotion, perception or behavior, either as a direct result of the neuropathology or as part of the individual's response to it. It also allows for a comprehensive evaluation of possible neurologic contributions to an atypical psychiatric condition.
The clinical services of the Center for Brain/Mind Medicine include:
Evaluation by a psychiatrist subspecialist with specialized training in brain-behavior relationships, who assesses psychiatric and behavioral symptoms due to brain injury or dysfunction and then develops psychopharmacological and behavioral intervention strategies.
Evaluation by a neurologist who assesses and integrates neurologic, medical, and neuropsychological information to formulate a comprehensive treatment plan.
Our team has dually-trained physicians with post-graduate specialization in both Neurology and Psychiatry and physicians with subspecialty certification in Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry who can provide a comprehensive and integrated evaluation of complex clinical presentations with symptoms lying at the interface between these specialties.
Evaluation by a psychiatrist subspecialist with expertise in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of complex mental disorders occurring in later life.
Evaluation by a social worker who specializes in the psychosocial issues related to neurological conditions and provides patient and family advocacy, appropriates resources and benefits, lifespan-planning, and supportive counseling.
In addition to the interdisciplinary work with the members of the Center for Brain/Mind Medicine, several of the neuropsychiatrists and geriatric psychiatrists are also an integral part of Brigham Psychiatric Specialties - outpatient psychiatry service of Brigham and Women's Hospital - where they work closely with psychiatrists in different sub-specialty areas and clinical psychologists with expertise in the most advanced evidence-based psychotherapies.
The Brigham and Women's Department of Psychiatry provides education and training in neuropsychiatry for all residents, fellows and medical students on the psychiatry service. In addition, it offers more intensive training in neuropsychiatry for those wishing to specialize in the field.
Medical students completing the principal clinical experience at Brigham and Women's Hospital participate in the Integrative Mind/Brain Medicine curriculum throughout their rotations on neurology, psychiatry and radiology. This 12-week course, sponsored by the departments/divisions of neurology, psychiatry and neuroradiology, focuses on the integration of information and perspectives from the varied medical specialties devoted to the brain, including neurology, psychiatry, neuroradiology and neurosurgery, with a focus on neuropsychiatry.
A senior medical student elective in neuropsychiatry is offered. For more information, please contact Gaston Baslet, MD at gbaslet@bwh.harvard.edu
Residents participate in numerous didactic sessions devoted to topics in neuropsychiatry. The PGY-2 year features an introduction and overview of clinical neuropsychiatry and neuroscience; the PGY-3 year involves sessions on individual neuropsychiatric topics with particular relevance to medical psychiatry; and the PGY-4 year features a concentrated module on more advanced topics in neuropsychiatry. Fellows in Psychosomatic Medicine and Geriatric Psychiatry also participate in didactic sessions on a variety of neuropsychiatric topics.
Faculty and trainees from a number of brain/mind related fields attend the monthly Center for Brain/Mind Medicine Seminar Series, which hosts speakers from a variety of disciplines relevant to the Cognitive/Affective Neurosciences, providing diverse perspectives on brain/mind function.
Renowned interdisciplinary rounds involving behavioral neurologists, neuropsychiatrists, neuropsychologists and social workers are held weekly the behavioral neurology/neuropsychiatry conference room of the Hale Building of Transformative Medicine.
Psychiatry residents may participate in neuropsychiatric evaluation and treatment while on the psychiatry outpatient service, and those with a particular interest may choose to do a neuropsychiatry chiefship during the PGY-4 year. Fellows in Geriatric Psychiatry receive training on the behavioral neurology/neuropsychiatry outpatient unit, and those in Psychosomatic Medicine may opt to do a selective in outpatient neuropsychiatry. Clinical electives are sometimes available for medical students as well.
Trainees who wish to purse more advanced training in neuropsychiatry can undertake UCNS-accredited fellowship training in neuropsychiatry/behavioral neurology involving intensive experience and supervision in the evaluation and treatment of neuropsychiatric cases in the context of an interdisciplinary team approach, as well as formal didactics and a journal club. In individual cases, combined residency training in psychiatry and neurology can be arranged, with an integrated program.
For further information on fellowship training in behavioral neurology/neuropsychiatry please contact Dr. Gaston Baslet or call (617) 732-8060.
All patients who are scheduled with a fellow are also seen by an attending in the same visit.
* Providers who are fully bilingual in English and Spanish.
Complete Faculty, Staff and Fellows of the Center for Brain/Mind Medicine (link to subset of directory filtered for CBMM faculty, staff and fellows)
For referrals to Neuropsychiatry or Geriatric Psychiatry please contact:
Brigham Psychiatric Specialties triage and mental health resources specialist: (617) 732-6753 or BWHtriage@partners.org
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