JNNP Podcast

Laughter serves a fundamental social purpose, the appropriate use of which requires recognition of social norms. So what happens when these interpersonal abilities are affected, such as in the frontotemporal dementias? Does use of laughter change too? Dr Peter Pressman (Rocky Mountain Alzheimer’s Disease Center, University of Colorado, USA) talks to Elizabeth Highton about observing conversational...

Professor Andrew Lees discusses his book "Mentored by a Madman: The William Burroughs Experiment" with Dr Sean O’Sullivan and Elizabeth Highton. Andrew speaks to the importance of looking beyond one’s area of expertise for mentorship, the relationship between art and science in neurology, Parkinson's disease and how William Burroughs played an unlikely role in his own medical career. You can read...

Both patient and editor's choices are discussed in this monthly episode of the JNNP podcast. The clinical care of patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) can often be complex; a disease with a highly variable clinical course. Professor Bart Jacobs, from the Department of Neurology at Erasmus Medical Centre (Rotterdam) provides an overview of some of the dilemmas that may arise when treating pa...

There is concern that, despite being a rare complication of the Zika virus, we could see a steady rise in the number of cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). In preparation for this, it is important that clinicians are able to appropriately identify and differentiate between Zika-associated GBS and other neurological disorders. In this podcast, Professor Antonino Uncini (University ‘G’ d’Annunzi...

Could currently available immunomodulatory therapies modify disability trajectories in patients with moderately advanced and advanced multiple sclerosis (MS)? Tomas Kalincik, Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Australia, discusses the findings from the MSbase cohort study with Elizabeth Highton. Read the full article here: http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/88/3/196.

Dr Mario Masellis and Dr. Sean Udow from the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Canada, look at the potential association between orthostatic hypotension and cognitive impairment in α-synucleinopathies such as Parkinson’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies and multiple system atrophy. Read the review published by JNNP here: http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/early/2016/09/09/jnnp-2...

Elizabeth Highton spoke to Professor Ammar Al-Chalabi from King’s College London about the development of a simple and clinically useful graphical model of predicting survival for motor neurone disease (MND) patients. Read the article here: http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/early/2016/07/26/jnnp-2015-312908.abstract

Elizabeth Highton and Prof. Bruce Taylor discuss higher latitudes and its association with earlier age of onset of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The international study, published by the JNNP, links latitude to the age at which symptoms of MS first start. Each 10ᵒ increase in latitude is associated with a 10 month earlier onset of symptoms among those of European descent. Read the full article here: ht...

Associate Editor of JNNP Alan Carson interviews Tom McMillan, Professor at the Institute for Health & Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, UK, about the paper "Long Term Health Outcomes after Exposure to Repeated Concussion in Elite Level Rugby Union Players". Despite a high number of concussions in retired male Scottish international rugby players, the researchers didn’t find differences in ment...

Professor Bruce Taylor and Elizabeth Highton discuss how certain genetic risk variants may predict the clinical course and progression of Multiple Sclerosis. This podcast relates to the Patient Choice paper published in the JNNP November 2016 issue and is accessible here: http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/87/11/1204.full.

Dr. Rebekah Ahmed talks about her recent JNNP review: Neuronal network disintegration and the common pathways linking neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Ahmed and colleagues critically evaluate a new approach to neurodegenerative disease, a focus on phenotypic presentation opposed to syndromic diagnosis. Via collaborative efforts, should we be looking at the commonalities between the neurodegenerativ...

In this JNNP podcast, Elizabeth Highton speaks with Dr. Siobhan Crichton and Dr. Benjamin Bray about their study looking at patient outcomes up to 15 years after stroke. Read their full paper here: http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/early/2016/07/22/jnnp-2016-313361.full. She is also joined over Skype by Professor Yusuf Rajabally who discusses his review examining the distinction between hereditary and i...

Elizabeth Highton spoke with Professor Henrik Zetterberg from Sahlgrenska University in Sweden. They discuss his recent JNNP review looking at clinical variants of Alzheimer's Disease and whether selective vulnerability in the nervous system may help explain some of the different phenotypic expressions of the same disease.

Elizabeth Highton is joined by Prof. Adriano Chio to talk about his study: Influence of cigarette smoking on ALS outcome: a population-based study. His large population-based cohort study of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as motor neurone disease, demonstrated that smoking is linked to their shorter survival and smokers also tended to be younger when the symptoms...

In this podcast, Dr Nortina Shahrizaila, a neurologist from the University of Malaya, talks about her review regarding Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and motor neuron syndromes in Asia. She discusses with Elizabeth Highton what is known of ALS in Asia from an epidemiological perspective through to disease characterisation and particular phenotypes which can be seen in Asian patients. They also disc...

In this July podcasts, Associate Professor Michael Barnett explains the details of his short report comparing Structural Image Evaluation using Normalisation of Atrophy-Cross Sectional (SIENAX) to Neuroquant and MSmetrix for assessment of cross-sectional Whole Brain Volume (WBV) in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Michael Barnett, from the Sydney Neuroimaging Analysis Centre at the Brain and...

Can coffee impact on the health of neurons? And what are the effects of its consumption on the risk of developing multiple sclerosis? These are some of the questions Dr Ellen Mowry answers in this podcast. She is an Associate Professor of Neurology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and one of the authors of the study, “High consumption of coffee is associated with decreased multiple sclerosis risk; re...

In this podcast, Elizabeth Highton investigates the details of two studies selected for the June 2016 edition of JNNP. Professor Steve Vucic, from the Department of Neurology at Westmead Hospital, Sydney, talks about the details of his study, which concludes that the rate of ALS progression appears to be a simple and sensitive clinical prognostic biomarker in the disease that could be potentially...

In this podcast, Dr Brian J Dlouhy explains the mechanisms behind sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), one of the most common cause of death in patients with intractable epilepsy. “Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: basic mechanisms and clinical implications for prevention” was selected for the April 2016 Patient Choice of the JNNP. Read the full review here: http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/...

In this podcast, Professor Elliot Frohman discusses the treatment of acute optic neuritis and its connection with multiple sclerosis. Elliot Frohman is Professor of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics and Ophthalmology and Director of the Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology Program, at the University of Texas. Read the full paper here: http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/early/2014/10/29/jnnp-2014-308185.f...

Kieran O'Driscoll, Neuropsychiatrist, Manchester, speaks to Giuseppe Vallar, Professor of Psychobiology and Physiological Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, about spatial neglect. This podcast was recorded at the 2015 BNPA AGM.

Chris Butler speaks to Adam Zeman about new theories of memory systems and networks. This podcast was recorded at the 2015 BNPA AGM.

David Linden, neuropsychiatrist, Cardiff, Wales, talks to Peter Brugger, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, about phantom phenomena. This podcast was recorded at the BNPA 2015 AGM.

David Nicholl argues that even with the tremendous advances in diagnostic neuroimaging that the clinical skills involved in clinical neurology remain key. In a recent JNNP review he writes that recent audits suggest that large numbers of patients are failing to be assessed properly with a risk of patient harm, costly, unnecessary or inappropriate investigations, or delayed diagnosis. In this podca...

Trials of potential neuroreparative agents are becoming more important in the spectrum of multiple sclerosis research. Appropriate imaging outcomes are required that are feasible from a time and practicality point of view, as well as being sensitive and specific to myelin, while also being reproducible and clinically meaningful. Conventional MRI sequences have limited specificity for myelination....