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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.

In 2012, 43.919 physicians decided to relocate to another EU member state, ranking physicians in second place of professional groups motivated to migrate. Recently, the European Association of Young Neurologists and Trainees (EAYNT) conducted a survey to assess motivations for cross-border mobility among residents and junior neurologists from member states of the European Union and neighboring countries.

Following last month’s chapter 1 about “founding fathers of the 19th century” we here continue this historical retrospect with a short review of German neurology in the early 20th century.

The first paper that I would like to point out to Neuropenews readers has been published in a very “peripheral” Journal, such as Missouri Medicine, at least in respect to European Neurology. However, the paper “Beta blocker eye drops for treatment of acute migraine”, by Migliazzo CV, and JC Hagan, Missouri Medicine, 111, 2014, 283-288 has been highly “tagged” by neurologists. Seven cases of acute migraine patients, successfully treated with beta blocker eye drops are reported.

by Delia Lenzi The Somatosensory system is known to be a multimodal system but we still know little about these proprieties. In particular, researchers are discovering that one of these submodalities —touch — has another dimension, besides that of decoding… Continue Reading

The Nobel Assembly has decided to award the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine to three European Neuroscientists with one half to John O´Keefe and the other half jointly to the couple May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser for their discoveries of cells “that constitute a positioning system in the brain, an inner GPS in the brain, that makes it possible to orient ourselves in space, demonstrating a cellular basis for higher cognitive function“.

Within the framework of the European year of the brain, the Austrian Society of Neurology is intensifying its public relations with information on neurological diseases and the achievements of the Austrian neurology. On the occasion of the World MS Day,… Continue Reading

Today’s neurology would not have developed and is unthinkable without the close interaction that took place among our European forefathers as early as in the 19th century. The following paragraphs are devoted to some of these pioneers from Germany.

This book reviews the history of the first 50 years of the WFN which was officially founded in 1957. One question immediately comes to mind: why 1957? There may be a debate about the “date of birth” of neurology, but everybody agrees that it was firmly established as a discipline by the first part of the twentieth century or even before that time.

The first paper that I would like to point out to Neuropenews readers was published as a “Perspective” in the September issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) by Michael S. Okun, with the title “Deep-brain stimulation – Entering the era of human network modulation”, on the occasion of the Lasker-Debakey Clinical Medical Research Award that in 2014 was given to “…two pioneers in deep-brain stimulation (DBS): Alim-Louis Benabid, a neurosurgeon, and Mahlon DeLong, a neurologist”.

by Delia Lenzi The emotional value of memories is known to be malleable and this property has been successfully used in clinical settings to treat maladaptive behaviors. By applying optogenetic manipulations, Susumu Tonegawa and colleagues, in a very interesting paper,… Continue Reading

  by Wolfgang Grisold   Earlier this year, the first Joint Congress of European Neurology took place in Istanbul. This was the final stage in the process of merging the two European neurological societies — the European Neurological Society (ENS) and… Continue Reading

The first paper that I would like to point out to the Neuropenews readers has been published on the prestigious PNAS (Tang-Schomer et al; Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 10.1073/pnas.1324214111.(2014), and it is reporting about a model of the six-layer human cortical brain tissue. Biological models as well as computer models (see Lancet Neurology, August 2014) look like very “hot spots” in the neuroscience panorama.

by Delia Lenzi Two seriously ill volunteers, Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, received three monoclonal antibodies, never before administered to humans. Both of them have now complitely recovered. The treatment has generated hope, suspicion, and accusations of inequity. Read more… Continue Reading

Call for applications for the Chief Editor of Neuropenews, the newsblog of the EAN and the Chief Editor of the website of the European Academy of Neurology The European Academy of Neurology has two major publication organs besides the scientific… Continue Reading