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NEUROPSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS

Challenging the psychiatry–neurology divide: the case of autoimmune encephalitis

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A new case series describes a cohort of individuals with severe psychiatric presentations who were diagnosed with ‘possible’ or ‘probable’ autoimmune encephalitis on the basis of neurological examination. Many participants improved after treatment with immunotherapy, highlighting the importance of fostering a closer relationship between the fields of neurology and psychiatry.

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References

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Acknowledgements

B.R.L. is an honorary consultant psychiatrist at Oxford Health Foundation Trust and receives funding from the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre. B.R.L. thanks P. Harrison and G. Lennox for helpful feedback on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Belinda R. Lennox

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  1. Belinda R. Lennox
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Correspondence to Belinda R. Lennox.

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Competing interests

B.R.L. is running a trial of immunotherapy in antibody-positive psychosis, SINAPPS2 (www.sinapps.org.uk), and has received research funding for related research from Janssen.

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Lennox, B.R. Challenging the psychiatry–neurology divide: the case of autoimmune encephalitis. Nat Rev Neurol 18, 253–254 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-022-00636-7

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