JNNP Podcast

Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy: basic mechanisms and implications for prevention

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/87/4/402.full.

Re-evaluating the treatment of acute optic neuritis

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.full

BNPA 2015: Spatial Neglect

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.

BNPA 2015: New theories of memory systems and networks

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

BNPA 2015: Phantom phenomena

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.

Clinical neurology: why this still matters in the 21st century

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 podcast Matthew Kiernan asks Dr Nicholl, Department of Neurology, City Hospital, Birmingham, why patients are not being assessed properly neurologically, and what a solution could look like.
Read the full review (for free): http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/86/2/229.full
Don't forget to follow JNNP's twitter feed for updates from the journal: @JNNP_BMJ

Imaging outcomes for trials of remyelination in multiple sclerosis

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.
With colleagues Shahrukh Mallik, Department of Neuroinflammation, NMR Research Unit, Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre, evaluated the imaging modalities which are potentially more specific to myelin content in vivo.
He explains what they found.
Read the full paper:
http://goo.gl/chxZq7

BNPA 2014: Oxytocin and social cognition

Individual differences in our capacity to read other people’s emotions and to remember faces we have seen before are highly variable in the general population. Some people are super-recognizers; others have difficulty remembering their own family members. Such abilities are also highly heritable, implying our genetic makeup exerts an important influence.
But what genes are involved in social perception? Where do they act when our brains process social signals? What happens if the social perception system malfunctions? How does it affect our social behaviour?
Professor Peter Halligan, Director of the BNPA, asks David Skuse, Professor of Behavioural and Brain Sciences at the Institute of Child Health, University College London, the answers to these questions.
This podcast was recorded at the 2014 British NeuroPsychiatry Association AGM.

BNPA 2014: Schizophrenia and cognition

Cognitive impairment is generally considered an important facet of the schizophrenia syndrome but how fundamental is it?
In this podcast Alan Carson discusses the question with Eileen Joyce, Consultant Neuropsychiatrist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. She argues that there is a limited general resource in schizophrenia that constrains the performance of a wide range of specific cognitive functions and underlies the development of psychotic symptoms as well as determining functional outcome. She also outlines the possible neurobiological underpinnings.
This podcast was recorded at the 2014 British NeuroPsychiatry Association AGM.

Advances in epilepsy surgery

Exciting recent and forthcoming advances will impact on the surgical management of epilepsy in the near future.
Mark Nowell and John Duncan, both Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, UCL Institute of Neurology, have conducted a review on where the treatment is headed, and discuss the three broad directions where they see the next major advances occurring.
Read the full paper, for free: http://goo.gl/f35bPF