Cover Article
Cover: Pathologic Gambling and Other Compulsive Complications of ParkinsonÕs Disease Therapy
For a small percentage of ParkinsonÕs disease patients, dopamine agonist therapy comes with an increased risk of pathologic gambling, excessive shopping, and hypersexuality. The latest insights into these behavior problems were presented by Valerie Voon, MD, and Oksana Suchowersky, MD, at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.

Selected Articles

• Secondary Clinical Progression is Rare in Neuromyelitis Optica
• News RoundupÑLate-Breaking Neurologic News
• The Skinny on Obesity and Dietary Risk Factors for AlzheimerÕs Disease
• Assessing Stroke in ChildrenÑPredictors, Outcomes, Treatments
• Early Treatment Preferred for MSÑAnd Other Recent Articles of Interest in Neurology

Cover Article
Should Headache Be Viewed as Part of a Larger Biorhythmic Disorder?
A growing body of evidence suggests that headaches are frequently inextricable manifestations of a broader syndrome, such as a disturbed biorhythm, that may be best managed when understood in this context, according to Robert E. Shapiro, MD, PhD. Dr. Shapiro highlighted a genetic link between headache and a familial sleep disorder and other examples to substantiate viewing headaches within syndromes at the Headache Cooperative of New England's 16th Annual Headache Symposium.

Selected Articles

• Benefits of Early and Long-Term MS Therapy
• News Roundup—Late-Breaking Neurologic News
• Breaking the Age Bias in Cocaine-Associated Stroke
• New Guidelines Take a Comprehensive Approach to Parkinson's Disease
• Enzyme May Help Control Amyloid-β Production—And Other Recent Articles of Interest in Neurology

Cover Article
Imaging Amyloid In Vivo—Pittsburgh Compound-B Offers Major Step Forward in Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease
Results of several small research studies presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology indicate that the use of positron emisson tomography with an imaging agent known as Pittsburgh Compound-B can identify in vivo neuroanatomic evidence of Alzheimer's disease at a much earlier stage than had been possible previously.

Selected Articles

• Can Combination Therapy Improve Outcome in Ischemic Stroke?
• News Roundup: Late-Breaking Neurologic News
• Diet and Exercise Regimen Lessens Pain in Prediabetic Neuropathy
• Researchers Pursue New Therapeutic Options for Parkinson's Disease
• Migraine May Be Underdiagnosed and Inadequately Treated—And Other Recent Articles of Interest in Neurology

Cover Article
Proof of Concept for Neuroprotection in Stroke?
NXY-059, a free-radical—trapping agent, significantly reduced Rankin scale disability in patients who had had an acute ischemic stroke, according to a report at the 2006 International Stroke Conference. The Stroke-Acute Ischemic NXY Treatment (SAINT I) study was the first positive, properly powered phase III trial of a neuroprotective drug for stroke, the researchers reported. SAINT II, currently under way, hopes to confirm these benefits.

Selected Articles

• Post-Dural Puncture Headache—An Avoidable Complication of Lumbar Puncture?
• News Roundup: Late-Breaking Neurologic News
• Addressing the Challenges of Living With Parkinson's Disease
• Restoring Speech to Impaired and Disabled Individuals
• Antihypertensive Drugs for Alzheimer's Disease—And Other Recent Articles of Interest in Neurology

Cover Article
Artificial Intelligence Merges With Neuroscience—Will Intelligent Machines Follow?
Can intelligent, manmade machines someday replace soldiers on the battlefield? Neurology Reviews spoke with some of the thought leaders in the US Department of Defense and at a number of academic institutions who are attempting to synthesize recent advances in neuroscience and cognitive psychology with the computer science and engineering principles of artificial intelligence to create machines capable of simulating human thought processing and turn science fiction into 21st-century reality.

Selected Articles

• Medication Noncompliance in Epilepsy
• News Roundup: Late-Breaking Neurologic News
• Bioterrorism—Are We Prepared for an Attack?
• A Capillary Blood Test for Fast Readings of AED Concentrations
• Increased Fruit and Vegetable Intake May Reduce Stroke Risk—And Other Recent Articles of Interest in Neurology

Cover Article
New Targets for Neuroprotection in Brain Ischemia
Investigators have identified new, glutamate-independent targets for neuroprotection in brain ischemia. The findings may have important implications for the development of a new clinical paradigm for neuroprotection, according to Roger P. Simon, MD, who presented findings on the role of acidosis and acid-sensing ion channels in brain ischemia at the 130th Annual Meeting of the American Neurological Association.

Selected Articles

• When Does Epilepsy Become Intractable?
• News Roundup: Late-Breaking Neurologic News
• An Update to the MS Spasticity Guidelines
• A Nonpathogenic Function of Amyloid Protein
• Aspirin Reduces Cardiovascular Risk in Women and Men—And Other Recent Articles of Interest in Neurology

Cover Article
"Definitive" Screen Confirms Suspect MS Genes
A cluster of genes on chromosome 6 plays a significant role in multiple sclerosis (MS), according to the most complete genetic study to date on the disorder. “Our results confirm the strong role of the major histocompatability complex genes in MS and provide a definitive statement that no other region of the genome harbors a gene with a similar overall influence on MS genetics,” said Jonathan Haines, PhD, who presented on behalf of the International Multiple Sclerosis Genetics Consortium at the 130th Annual Meeting of the American Neurological Society.

Selected Articles

• Imaging May Aid in Temporal Lobectomy
• News Roundup: Late-Breaking Neurologic News
• Long-Term Results of the Pivotal Betaseron for MS Trial
• Neuroprotection for Diseases of the Peripheral Nervous System
• Education and Occupation Influence Risk of Parkinson's Disease—And Other Recent Articles of Interest in Neurology