Funções neuropsicológicas associadas a condutas autolesivas: revisão integrativa de literatura

Abstract

This study aims to describe neuropsychological factors associated to self-injurious behavior based on an integrative literature review of papers accessed through electronic databases in the Virtual Healthcare Library. As instrument, we used information forms for each paper. A total of 59 papers were found and 21 (36%) matched inclusion criterion: publication in Portuguese or English from 2000 to 2009 publicly available or available at CAPES Portal of Electronic Scientific Journals. Difficulties related to func- tions such as problem solving and decision making abilities (38%), impulsiveness (24%), emotional regulation (21%) and psychological stress (17%) were associated to self-harm. Results suggest that problems in pre-frontal circuits of the brain may be related to self-harm, since they are involved in the mechanisms of the mentioned neural functions.