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Preface
This new addition to the Illustrated Colour Text (ICT) series
provides a short, readable introduction to basic and clinical
neuroscience. It is intended to contain ‘all you need to know’
to get a good understanding of the nervous system and its
most important disorders. There are two main aims:
■ Explain the core principles of cellular and molecular
neuroscience, emphasising aspects that are important for
understanding common brain diseases
■ Provide an integrated, up-to-date description of the most
important neurological disorders (such as stroke, epilepsy
and dementia) and their scientific basis.
This text should be an ideal companion to the very popular
Neuroanatomy ICT by Crossman and Neary and has been
written in the same chapter-based format. Although the book
is not divided into sections, the second half is more clinically-
orientated than the first.
The earlier chapters introduce a number of core
neuroscience topics, including the development, anatomy
and cellular constituents of the nervous system. Some
fundamental (and potentially confusing) concepts are
explained, including the electrical properties of neurons and
the principles of synaptic transmission. Before moving on to
discuss specific neurological conditions in detail, there is an
introductory chapter on the cellular mechanisms of
neurological disease, which provides an overview of basic
pathological processes (such as inflammation, gliosis, cell
death and neurodegeneration).
The second half of the book focuses on the most common
and important neurological disorders, with separate chapters
on head injury, stroke, epilepsy, dementia, Parkinson’s disease
and multiple sclerosis. These provide a comprehensive and
integrated introduction to each main disease, together with a
number of associated and related conditions. Each chapter
begins with the key clinical features (e.g., symptoms, signs
and main imaging findings) before describing how each
disorder is diagnosed and treated. Sections on aetiology
and pathogenesis draw on relevant aspects of anatomy,
pathology, physiology and pharmacology. In addition,
numerous ‘clinical boxes’ (with a blue stethoscope icon) are
scattered throughout the text, highlighting a wide range of
neurological diseases, investigations and treatments.
Neuroscience is a challenging subject that is easier (and
more interesting) to learn when it is understood rather than
memorised; for this reason, emphasis has been placed on
comprehension rather than rote learning. For instance, when
new terms are introduced the word origins are usually given
in brackets (at least when they seem to make sense!) and
some of the more difficult-to-pronounce words have been
spelled out phonetically. To summarise and reinforce the most
important information (and to facilitate exam preparation)
succinct ‘key points’ boxes are provided throughout.
The text has been prepared with the needs of medical
students in mind and should be suitable for the majority of
undergraduate medical courses; in addition, the integrated
style should fit well with case-based and problem-based
curricula. The content should be suitable not only for the
earlier, more theoretical years of medical school (when exam
preparation and revision are often foremost in the mind) but
also in the later, more clinically-orientated years when the
priority shifts towards survival during ward rounds and
outpatient clinics! It should also be useful as an update and
refresher for junior doctors embarking on potentially-
daunting ‘neuro’ rotations – or for those entering specialist
training in neurology-related disciplines.
Although it will be of particular interest to medical students
and junior doctors, the book is suitable for anyone interested
in the nervous system and its disorders, including
undergraduate and postgraduate students in neuroscience,
psychology and the biomedical sciences. The content is also
relevant to a wide range of healthcare professions allied to
medicine which require a basic knowledge of the nervous
system and its disorders. To help make it more accessible to
non-medical readers, a brief appendix of anatomical
terminology has been included.
Much of this book was written during my specialist training
in neuropathology at the National Hospital for Neurology and
Neurosurgery (Queen Square, London) and was completed
after I had taken up my present post as a consultant
neuropathologist at St George’s Hospital in Tooting (South
London). Although it has certainly been extremely hard work
at times, the process has also been very enjoyable – and I
sincerely hope that this new volume in the Illustrated Colour
Text series will prove to be a useful and worthwhile
contribution.
Paul Johns
London, 2014