Neurodegenerative disease: The cellular prion protein: a novel target for Alzheimer disease therapeutics? | PDF (138 KB)
p235 | doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2009.43
Table of contents
May 2009 Vol 5 No 5
Research Highlights
In the news: Obama's stem cell move | PDF (43 KB)
p236 | doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2009.42
Cerebrovascular disease: Migraine in pregnancy | PDF (103 KB)
p236 | doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2009.47
Epilepsy: A new add-on therapy for epilepsy | PDF (57 KB)
p237 | doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2009.45
Neurodegenerative disease: A neurobiological basis for depression in Huntington disease | PDF (63 KB)
p237 | doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2009.46
Movement disorders: Ablative surgery for Parkinson disease | PDF (65 KB)
p238 | doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2009.44
In brief
Dementia | Epilepsy | Pain | Epilepsy | PDF (49 KB)
p238 | doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2009.48
News and Views
Are some antidepressants better than others?
Gerald Gartlehner & Richard A. Hansen
p239 | doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2009.51
An analysis of 12 different second-generation antidepressants rated sertraline and escitalopram as having the most favorable balance between benefit and harm for the treatment of major depressive disorder in adults. A second look at the methods and results from the study reveals that such a positive conclusion might not be warranted.
Migraine: Telcagepant provides new hope for people with migraine
Lars Edvinsson
p240 | doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2009.49
The triptan drugs provide effective migraine relief for many people. Nevertheless, a substantial number of migraine-affected individuals are unresponsive to triptans, and such therapy can also lead to an array of adverse effects. A new class of antimigraine drugs, currently undergoing clinical trials, could offer hope to those for whom triptan medication is unsuitable.
Parkinson disease: Pain in Parkinson disease: the hidden epidemic
Blair Ford
p242 | doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2009.50
Parkinson disease is commonly recognized as a neurodegenerative disorder that leads to disabling motor and cognitive impairment, but less widely appreciated is the association of this condition with a variety of pain syndromes. A recent survey emphasizes the high prevalence and severity of pain in patients with Parkinson disease.
Alzheimer disease: Visual rating of atrophy aids diagnostic accuracy
Natalie S. Ryan & Nick C. Fox
p243 | doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2009.52
The need for early diagnosis of Alzheimer disease is gathering importance with the prospect of disease-modifying therapy. Medial temporal lobe atrophy on MRI is a characteristic, early and predictive feature of the disease. A new visual rating system has been proposed to facilitate assessment of such atrophy in routine clinical practice.
Reviews
Management of agitation and aggression associated with Alzheimer disease
Clive G. Ballard, Serge Gauthier, Jeffrey L. Cummings, Henry Brodaty, George T. Grossberg, Philippe Robert & Constantine G. Lyketsos
p245 | doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2009.39
Agitation and aggression are common symptoms of Alzheimer disease (AD), causing risk and distress to the patient and others. Atypical antipsychotics are the most widely prescribed pharmacological treatments for these symptoms, but they can cause harmful effects. Here, Clive Ballard and colleagues review the risks associated with atypical antipsychotics and present the many alternative treatments and approaches that are available for managing agitation and aggression in AD.
Imaging outcomes for neuroprotection and repair in multiple sclerosis trials
Frederik Barkhof, Peter A. Calabresi, David H. Miller & Stephen C. Reingold
p256 | doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2009.41
Multiple sclerosis is traditionally considered to be an inflammatory disease, but it also has a neurodegenerative component, which can manifest early in the disease course. New therapeutic strategies are being developed to elicit CNS neuroprotection and repair in patients with multiple sclerosis, and Barkhof et al. review the available data on imaging outcome measures that could be used to track the efficacy of these approaches.
Brain mechanisms of altered conscious states during epileptic seizures
Andrea Eugenio Cavanna & Francesco Monaco
p267 | doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2009.38
Impaired consciousness is a hallmark of epileptic seizures, but the degree of impairment differs depending on the seizure type. Here, Andrea Cavanna and Francesco Monaco review recent insights into the brain mechanisms that underlie alterations of consciousness during epileptic seizures and argue that clinical assessment should take into account both patients' levels of awareness and their subjective contents of consciousness.
The optic nerve head in hereditary optic neuropathies
Evelyn C. O'Neill, David A. Mackey, Paul P. Connell, Alex W. Hewitt, Helen V. Danesh-Meyer & Jonathan G. Crowston
p277 | doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2009.40
The hereditary optic neuropathies, which include dominant optic atrophy, Leber hereditary optic neuropathy and certain types of glaucoma, result in characteristic changes in the morphology of the optic nerve head and the surrounding retinal nerve fiber layer. In this article, O'Neill et al. review the currently available retinal imaging technologies and describe the typical morphological features of the optic nerve head in various hereditary optic neuropathies.
Case Study
Intravascular lymphomatosis of the brain in a patient with myelodysplastic syndrome
Gregorius J. Sips, Colum F. Amory, Bradley N. Delman, George M. Kleinman, Lewis R. Lipsey & Stanley Tuhrim
p288 | doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2009.36
Sips and colleagues describe the onset of intravascular lymphomatosis (IVL) of the brain in a 77-year-old retired research pharmacologist with a history of anemia, pancytopenia, and a recently confirmed diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The authors discuss the mechanisms of IVL and MDS and possible relationships between the conditions, as well as a beneficial effect of treatment of IVL with high-dose combination chemotherapy and rituximab
