I am interested in the study of psychiatric symptoms (e.g. hallucinations, delusions, obsessions) appearing in the context of neurological disease. Since the 19th century, the view that 'mental symptoms' seen in the context of neurological disease are the same as those seen in the context of psychiatry has been assumed rather than demonstrated. We investigate this question by: 1) mapping the temporal features, dimensions, structure, contents, and themes of so-called 'organic' mental symptoms 2) comparing them with similar complaints as they appear in schizophrenia, mania, obsessive compulsive disorder, dissociative disorder, etc. 3) searching for alternative aetiological mechanisms (e.g. psychogenicity) 4) studying their epistemological import, i.e. how informative are they in regards to their own aetiology and natural history.
