Recent technological advances have enabled the detection of specific forms of phosphorylated tau in blood. Here, the authors summarize the performance of blood phosphorylated tau biomarkers in the context of Alzheimer disease and highlight related ethical, analytical and clinical challenges.

Many episodes of status epilepticus do not respond to first-line treatment with benzodiazepines. In this Perspective, Richard Burman and colleagues discuss seizure-induced alterations to the sensitivity of the GABA receptor to benzodiazepines, presenting these changes as a possible mechanism of treatment resistance.

On the basis of a coverage decision for anti-amyloid monoclonal antibodies recently issued by the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Medicare will offer ‘coverage with evidence development’ to allow more information on the clinical benefits of these antibodies to be gathered. Here, we discuss the implications of this decision for future clinical trials and Alzheimer disease care.

New research shows that meningeal lymphatic vessels can drain viruses from the CNS, with important implications for our understanding of CNS infections.

Neurological diseases cause a massive burden, which will increase as populations age. Rapid advances in our understanding of disease mechanisms must be translated into human benefits. We cannot stop once technologies have been developed, but must ensure that evidence and pipelines are in place for their implementation to reduce burden and inequalities.

A new study has shown that a modulator of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 can reverse synapse loss in mouse models of Alzheimer disease and has the potential to be developed as a disease-modifying treatment for this condition.