Review Articles in 2019

In this Review, Cristino, Bisogno and Di Marzo outline the biology of cannabinoids, the endocannabinoid system and the expanded endocannabinoid system and discuss the involvement of these systems and the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids across the spectrum of neurological disease.

Amyloid-β deposition underlies the pathogenesis of cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) and Alzheimer disease (AD), but the disease pathways differ. Here, Greenberg et al. consider the interactions between CAA and AD, the factors that determine which disease pathway transpires, and the implications for therapeutic development.

Some individuals with post-stroke language impairment, or aphasia, will spontaneously recover partial language function. In this Review, the authors propose that existing hypotheses about this recovery from aphasia can be considered as examples of two principles: degeneracy and variable neuro-displacement.

Spinal cord injury leads to disruption of neural circuitry and connectivity, resulting in permanent neurological disability. Hutson and Di Giovanni assess the clinical potential of emerging strategies that are designed to augment neuroplasticity and promote sensorimotor recovery after spinal cord injury.

In this Review, David et al. discuss the ability of advanced quantitative MRI techniques to identify secondary degenerative changes induced by spinal cord injury and assess the suitability of these techniques for predicting patient outcome.

In this Review, the authors describe the evidence for abnormalities in energy metabolism and mitochondrial function in migraine, consider the potential mechanisms and highlight treatments that affect metabolism. They conclude that migraine is a conserved adaptive response that helps to restore brain energy homeostasis.

Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease (CMT) encompasses a group of inherited neuropathies that exhibit phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity. The authors discuss the application of next-generation sequencing (NGS) to the diagnosis of CMT and present a method for incorporating NGS into CMT clinical practice.

Axonal transport is the process whereby motor proteins navigate microtubules to deliver diverse cargoes from one end of the axon to the other. In this Review, Schiavo and colleagues explore the link between perturbations in axonal transport and neurological disease.

This Review discusses the contribution of adverse early-life experiences to aberrant brain maturation, which might underlie vulnerability to cognitive brain disorders. The authors suggest that fragmented and unpredictable environmental and parental signals comprise a novel and potent type of adversity.

Post-traumatic headache (PTH) is a common disabling consequence of mild traumatic brain injury. In this Review, Ashina et al. discuss possible pathogenic mechanisms of PTH, the research needed to improve our understanding, and drugs for prevention and treatment of persistent PTH.

In this Review, Dong and Yong summarize the mechanisms and consequences of T cell–microglia interactions in multiple sclerosis, discuss therapeutic approaches that affect these interactions and consider the challenges of translating preclinical knowledge in this area to humans.

Ageing is a risk factor for many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer disease and Parkinson disease. This Review synthesizes current knowledge about the biological processes that underlie normal brain ageing and neurodegeneration, and discusses promising therapeutic strategies based on these mechanisms.

In this Review, Matthews considers how advanced imaging techniques are enabling in vivo visualization of chronic CNS inflammation in multiple sclerosis that has previously been identified in histopathological studies.

Polymorphism in the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene influences the risk of Alzheimer disease (AD). The authors describe recent research into the role of APOE in AD pathogenesis and discuss how new AD therapies could be tailored to APOE genotype.

In patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy, the success of surgery depends on predicting which resection or disconnection strategy will yield full seizure control. This Review highlights recent advances in presurgical assessment and discusses how concepts of focal epilepsy are changing.

An altered microglial landscape and ageing-related inflammatory changes contribute to the neurodegeneration associated with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Here, Bright and colleagues discuss the evidence for a pathogenetic role of neuroinflammatory mechanisms in FTD, including links with autoimmunity and gene mutations associated with neuroinflammation.

In the past 20 years, understanding of the clinical manifestations, aetiopathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of narcolepsy has greatly advanced. In this Review, Bassetti et al. present these advances, discuss unmet needs and offer future perspectives for the field of narcolepsy.

Ischaemic stroke causes a neuroinflammatory response, but the functional consequences of this response have been unclear. In this Review, Stoll and Nieswandt consider the roles of T cells, platelets and their interactions in this neuroinflammatory response and how these roles could be exploited therapeutically.

In this Review, Vezzani and colleagues discuss inflammatory pathways that are activated in pharmacoresistant epilepsy and can be modulated to therapeutic effect in animal models. They consider how targeting these pathways could overcome limitations of existing anti-epileptic treatments.

In this Review, Lloyd and Miron consider how regulation of microglial activation influences the ability of microglia to promote remyelination in the CNS. They also discuss the potential to exploit the pre-remyelination properties of microglia to treat multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating diseases.