by Gian Luigi Lenzi
The first paper that I would like to point out to Neuropenews readers has attracted my attention because it concerns a very general therapeutical and social problem, that is the costs of drugs, and the choice between a “brand” drug and its “generic” counterpart. It is a “perspective” paper, published on the 13 November issue of the New England J of Medicine, by Jonathan D. Alpers, William M. Stauffer & Aaron S. Kesselheim ( NEJM, 2014; 371;1859-1862) : “High-Cost Generic Drugs – Implications for Patients and Policymakers”. This paper refers mainly to USA and FDA problems and initiatives. However, I feel deeply in my gut that these problems will pretty soon affect European countries too.
The second paper has been published as a review on Brain (Diaschisis: past, present, future ; 2014 ; vol 137; 2408-2422) by Emmanuel Carrera and Giulio Tononi. Diaschisis is a term coined by von Monakow in 1914, that was revisited with early functional neuroimaging (PET, SPECT) in the 1980ies, but failed to show an evident/relevant clinical counterpart. Recent development of MR connectivity studies has led to the re-definition of “connectional diaschisis”. Neuromodulation using transcranial magnetic stimulation may led to further clinical respectability for diaschisis.
