In the last few years, psychiatry in the field of mental retardation has begun to reexamine the subtler effects of the medications it employs. This volume is designed to further our understanding of the pharmacologic treatability of the mental illnesses that individuals with mental retardation often display.

The book shows how mentally retarded patients can benefit from pharmacological interventions that are part of a multisystems approach to treatment, the aim of which is to maintain or increase the cognitive functioning of the individual. In this respect, pharmacologic and polypharmacologic approaches are sought to provide more efficacious, less toxic treatment regimens for these patients. New insights into the nature of neurological disturbance in mental retardation are presented, and the book offers a practical guide to the treatment of developmentally disabled people.