It is unfortunate that the term 'neurological disease' has become synonymous with 'neurodegenerative disease' in the vocabulary of many neuroscientists. So, when talking about neurological disorders, the spotlight always seems to focus on Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases, and rarely on conditions that do not necessarily involve neuronal degeneration. Here, we have tried to redress the balance by featuring articles on some diseases that have traditionally received limited coverage, despite the insights that we have on their neurobiological bases. So, the sophistication of our understanding of migraine (page 386), bacterial meningitis (page 376) and congenital myasthenic disorders (page 339) might surprise those readers who are not particularly familiar with these conditions.

There are other neurological diseases that, despite receiving a lot of attention, always seem to be discussed from a similar angle. The article on stroke that we have included in this collection (page 399) tries to avoid this limitation by highlighting a relatively new concept in the field — the 'neurovascular unit'. This concept should inspire the development of new strategies to treat this widespread condition. And speaking of therapeutic approaches, the articles on programmed cell death (page 365) and on viral vectors (page 353) examine two of the many avenues that are being explored in the search for ways to treat neurological diseases.

Overall, the reviews in this issue illustrate the way in which basic research has affected our thinking about neurological disorders — as diseases with a neurobiological foundation and not solely as clinical entities with a specific set of symptoms. At the same time, they highlight the need for better communication between neurologists and neuroscientists in the search for effective cures, and call for further avenues for the advancement of translational research.