[Depression in neuropsychiatric diseases]

Depression is frequently observed together with neurological disorders. Moreover this connection is bidirectional in the case of several neurological disorders, as depression can be either a comorbide syndrome or also a risk factor of them. Neurobiological background of depression involves neuroanatomical structures, their interconnected networks, disturbances of neurotransmitters, neurohormonal, neuroimmunological and neurotrophic changes, genetic background. Disfunction of these systems also plays a role in the pathogenesis of comorbid depression of neurological disorders. Interactions and clinical aspects of biological factors involved in the pathogenesis of depression in dementias, Parkinson's disease, cerebrovascular disorders and epilepsy are discussed further. Depression as a result of neurobiological factors responsible for both neurological and psychiatric consequencies of these disorders, are often atypical as a clinical manifestation, however chracteristic for the particular neurological disorder. Evaluation of the biological backgound and clinical features of depression in neurological disorders makes the complex neuropsychiatric approach of these disorders possible.