How do you measure disease progression in a highly variable and heterogeneous clinical population, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)? Can plasma creatinine act as a robust surrogate biomarker in clinical trials? Dr. Ruben P A van Eijk (University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands) discusses this month’s editor’s choice. Read the full paper here: http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/89/2/156.

Read the JNNP's January 2018 issue here: http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/89/1.

Despite the prevalence of the disease, neurologists and psychiatrists can be wary of treating patients with functional neurological disorder (FND). Assistant Professor David Perez (Massachusetts General Hospital, USA) discusses how FND sits between neurological and psychiatric disciplines, the relationship between poor health status and affective symptoms, and associations with grey matter volumetric profiles. Read more here: http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/88/12/1052.

http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/88/12/1079

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) has been gaining attention over the past few years, thanks to increased research in the field. Professor David Werring (UCL Institute of Neurology, Queens Square, London) discusses the recent advances in biomarkers analysis, as well as providing an overview of the clinical spectrum of CAA. Read the full paper here: http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/early/2017/08/26/jnnp-2016-314697

Professor Emeritus Andrew Eisen (University of British Columbia, Canada) discusses the theory of corticofugal primary in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS can be viewed as a primarily human disorder mediated by corticomotorneuronal pathways, originating in the cerebral cortex. Read the full paper here: http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/88/11/917.

Can IViG be used as a longer term maintenance therapy for CIDP patients? JNNP Associate Editor, Professor Satoshi Kuwabara (Chiba University Hospital, Japan) joins us for this podcast, discussing recent trial results and their implications for patient care. Read the full paper here: http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/88/10/832

Professor Mary Reilly (Institute of Neurology, Queens Square, London) discusses how complex inherited neuropathies can be a daunting diagnosis for clinicians. However, through exciting advances in next generation sequencing and knowledge of distinct syndromic categories, a new diagnostic approach emerges. Her review and her interview provide excellent over of this new approach, and how it may serve as a resource for clinicians. Link to paper here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jnnp-2016-313960.

Elizabeth also speaks with Dr Ester Coutinho from the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, UK. Dr Coutinho & colleagues have been looking into maternal transfer of autoantibodies during pregnancy. In particular, their research has focused on antibodies which may be linked to disorders of psychological development in children. Read the paper here: http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/88/9/718.

“Time Matters in preventing disabilities from MS” was supported by an unrestricted educational grant from F. Hoffmann-La Roche and Roche Farmacêutica e Química.