by Stephen Goldberg M.D., Damon R. Salzman M.D.

This book is for medical, nursing, and PA students, primary care physicians, and other health professionals to provide a general overview of neurology.

Neurology can be so complex that it becomes difficult to gain an overall picture of the numerous neurological pathways, intricate exam methods, diseases, and treatments. The book tries to present clinical neurology in a way that enables the reader to quickly grasp the subject by emphasizing its most important features, in a way that promotes understanding rather than rote memorization. The clinical focus is on diseases that are more probable, more serious if missed, and more likely to lead to an effective remedy.

In any given book on neurology, chapters on neurologic diseases can be organized according to 1 of 3 possibilities:

Nervous system location (e.g., cerebrum, brain stem, spinal cord, peripheral nerves)

Disease process (e.g., infectious, vascular, autoimmune, degenerative, etc.), or

The way the patient presents to the physician (e.g., weakness, sensory loss, pain, seizure, dizziness, balance problems, memory loss, etc.)

We have chosen the latter symptomatic approach, since it is how the patient presents and the immediate practical route to the diagnosis and treatment.