Fatigue in Neurological, Psychiatric, and Medical Conditions

Extract

Fatigue as a Window to the Brain, John DeLuca (Ed.). 2005. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 336 pp., $55.00 (HB).

Fatigue is ubiquitous and falls within the purview of several specialties, including neurology, psychiatry, neuropsychology, endocrinology, rheumatology, and immunology. As Simon Wessely points out in the Foreword of Fatigue as a Window to the Brain, fatigue has been virtually overlooked as an area of scientific study, because it is difficult to measure and, as a symptom, rarely aids in differential diagnosis. John DeLuca's edited book is part of the Issues in Clinical and Cognitive Neuropsychology series edited by Jordan Grafman. This is an ambitious book that examines the multidimensional and multifactorial nature of the neurobiology of central fatigue. This book advances the reader's understanding of the neural mechanisms of fatigue through review and integration of empirical data on fatigue and its cognitive correlates in neurological, medical, and psychiatric disorders.