The Neurology Lounge

In this podcast I explore the diverse perspectives of brain tumours, from their pathology and clinical manifestations to their complications and management. The podcast discusses the common primary brain tumours, particularly highlighting the usually benign meningioma, and the typically aggressive glioblastoma. I illustrate these themes with such graphic illness memoirs as The Iceberg by Marion Co...

In this short podcast, I count down 10 routine everyday things that can surprisingly be triggers for epileptic seizures.

In this episode I am joined by Lone Frank to talk about her book, The Pleasure Shock, in which she narrated the work of Robert Galbraith Heath, the unacknowledged pioneer of deep brain stimulation. We talked about how she got interested in the subject when she was writing about Parkinson’s disease, and how her exploration revealed that he developed the technique of deep brain stimulation, initiall...

In this episode, I am joined by Leslie Davidson to discuss her husband, Lincoln’s illness with Lewy body dementia, and her experience of caring for him whilst she was herself struggling with the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Leslie chronicled the onset of his symptoms with night terrors and its progression to delusions, hallucinations, confusion, and memory impairment, and eventually culminatin...

In this episode, I review the four main mimics of Parkinson’s disease, also called the Parkinson’s Plus syndromes. These are multiple system atrophy (MSA), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and corticobasal degeneration (CBD). I explore the clinical manifestations, investigations, and treatments of these disorders, highlighting such striking features as autonom...

I am joined in this exploration of narcolepsy by Julie Flygare, an internationally recognized patient-perspective leader, and an accomplished advocate, to discuss her patient perspective of the disease as narrated in her award-winning memoir, Wide Wake and Dreaming. Julie has advanced her leadership in the sleep and healthcare space through speaking engagements, publications, earned media, collabo...

In this episode, I explore the curious sleep disorder narcolepsy. With apt patient memoirs, I describe its clinical manifestations, from sleep attacks and cataplexy, to sleep paralysis and sleep-related hallucinations. I also review its association with other sleep disorders, and its non-sleep related manifestations. The podcast also discusses the genetic and acquired causes of narcolepsy, its ass...

I am joined in this episode by journalist Lauren Aguirre, an award-winning science journalist, to explore the neuroepidemiology work of neurologist Jed Barash and colleagues which revealed the existence of a silent epidemic of what is now named opioid associated amnestic syndrome. Lauren chronicled the onset and progress of the epidemic using the two index cases she described in her book. She narr...

In this brief podcast, I count down 10 unusual but unique headaches that may be perplexing for patients, and challenging for doctors to diagnose.

In this episode, I explore the intriguing condition of amnesia, the isolated loss of memory with the preservation of other cognitive disorders. I use remarkable patient anecdotes, such as those of musician Clive Wearing, and of Jimmie G, a patient of neurologist Oliver Sacks, to illustrate the diverse causes of amnesia, from herpes virus encephalitis to chronic alcoholism. I also narrate the clini...

In this podcast, I am joined by Susan Mockler to discuss her harrowing experience of traumatic spinal cord injury, which she narrated in 'Fractured'. This is her memoir that detailed her experiences with acquired disability following a car accident which left her with a spinal cord injury. She recalls how she sustained a cervical spinal injury as the front seat passenger of a car that hit a moose,...

In this episode, I explore the two catastrophic forms of traumatic neurological injury, brain and spinal cord. I discuss the life-changing physical consequences of traumatic neurological injury, and the equally harrowing but often invisible emotional fallouts. I particularly highlight the often incomprehensible ways by which neurological injuries result – from riding horses and diving into pools,...

In this episode I count down 10 top causes of insomnia, and these range from the habitual to the pathological. I also highlight the treatment approaches to these.

I am joined in this podcast by Randye Kaye to discuss the patient and family perspectives of schizophrenia as she narrated in her memoir titled Ben Behind His Voices . Randye is a radio and podcast host, actress, singer, teacher, mental health advocate, and motivational speaker who speaks to groups of doctors, nurses, medical students, families, providers, and legislators regarding the family expe...

In this podcast episode, I explore the diverse facets of the debilitating mental illness schizophrenia. I particularly highlight its varied manifestations such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganised thoughts and abnormal behaviours. I illustrate these concepts with insightful illness memoirs, such as the classics Is There No Place on Earth for Me , by Susan Sheehan, The Centre Cannot Hold , by...

In this episode, I explore the diverse clinical and pathogenic dimensions of migraine with neurologist Mark Weatherall whose interests are the diagnosis and management of chronic migraine, facial pain, visual snow syndrome, and secondary headaches associated with systemic disorders. Our discussion covered the distinction between primary and secondary headaches, the distinctive features of the migr...

I am joined in this podcast by Danielle Newport Fancher to explore the patient perspective of migraine as portrayed in her illness memoir titled 10: A Memoir of Migraine Survival . Danielle Fancher is a writer, migraine advocate, and speaker who has received awards from the National Headache Foundation and The Association of Migraine Disorders for her writing and advocacy. She is also a member of...

In this episode, I review the pathological and clinical dimensions of migraine, the most common disabling neurological disorder. I tried to capture migraine’s diverse disabling recurrent symptoms, from its risk factors, triggers and prodrome to the aura, the headache, and multiple heightened sensitivities. To illustrate the lived experience of migraine, its classical manifestations, and its curiou...

In this episode, I am joined by Nicholas Silvestri, Professor of Neurology at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, where he is also Associate Dean for Student and Academic Affairs. He is board-certified in neurology, neuromuscular medicine, and electrodiagnostic medicine. Over the past several years, Nicholas Silvestri’s research interests have included myas...

In this episode I explore the autoimmune neurological disorder, myasthenia gravis. I review its classical manifestations as ocular and generalised myasthenia, and I highlight its complications such as refractory myasthenia and myasthenic crisis. The podcast also discusses the pathogenesis and triggers of the disease, its various mimics, and its indispensable investigations. I also review its treat...

I am joined in this episode by neurologist Thomas Bird to discuss his long professional experience of managing Huntington's disease. Thomas Bird is Professor Emeritus of Neurology and Medical Genetics at the University of Washington in Seattle. He was previously Chief of Neurology at the Seattle VA Medical Center, and founder of the Neurogenetics Clinic at the University of Washington. He was also...

In this short podcast, I count down 10 clinical features that accompany tremors which indicate that the tremor is not the result of Parkinson’s disease.

In this episode, I explore one of the most visually dramatic neurological disorders, along with its diverse and debilitating symptoms. I explored the history of the disease, describing how George Huntington came to know about it, and how his paper documenting the involvement of a Long Island pedigree in New York served as a landmark in the documentation of the disease. The podcast also used this p...

I am joined in this podcast by Anne Fadiman to discuss her classical book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down , her account of the cross-cultural conflicts between a Hmong family and the American medical system. The book won a National Book Critics Circle Award, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and a Salon Book Award. Published in 1997, the book has attained classic status within medicine. Its...

In this episode, I trace the history of the development of EEG and MRI, the two key investigation tools of epilepsy. This explores the roles played by neuroscientists Hans Berger and Edgar Adrian, and physicists Paul Lauterbur, Peter Mansfield, and Raymond Damadian. I also use the fascinating memoir, The Letter E , to demonstrate the importance of the genetic diagnosis of epilepsy, and A Mind Unra...