Reviews & Analysis

Malformations of cortical development (MCDs) are neurodevelopmental disorders that result from abnormal development of the cerebral cortex in utero. In this Consensus Statement, the international MCD network Neuro-MIG provides recommendations to aid both expert and non-expert clinicians in the diagnostic work-up of MCDs.

A new meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trials of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) antibodies for migraine has shown that the direct biological effects of these treatments beyond the effects of placebo are modest, raising questions about how the ‘true value’ of these and other drugs are assessed.

This Review outlines the advances of molecular treatment of brain metastases from non-small-cell lung cancer, breast cancer and melanoma. Substantial improvements in survival have been achieved in patients with molecular subgroups whose alterations can be targeted with specific molecular compounds.

Neurological soft signs (NSS) are minor motor and sensory changes that accompany the typical psychopathological symptoms and neuropsychological deficits that manifest in the early stages of schizophrenia. A new study provides evidence that NSS in early schizophrenia predict the long-term clinical outcomes of this condition.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome is a common occurrence in COVID-19, an infectious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In this article, the authors consider how lung innervation might crosstalk with the immune system to modulate lung function and influence outcomes in COVID-19.

In this Perspective, Pezzini and Padovani critique the evidence for neurological manifestations of COVID-19, including epidemiological, neuropathological and neuroimaging data, and highlight the need for further work to establish whether SARS-CoV-2 is responsible for these symptoms.

Imaging-based assessment is becoming increasingly important in the management of acute stroke, but processing and interpretation of images in clinical practice is challenging. In this Review, Parsons and colleagues explore the potential of artificial intelligence to provide treatment decision support.

In this Review, Tabrizi et al. discuss new insights into the molecular pathogenesis of Huntington disease and outline potential therapeutic strategies, which could include the modulation of DNA repair processes.

The Nigerian Parkinson Disease registry is the first published national Parkinson disease registry in sub-Saharan Africa. Though the clinical data and number of participants are currently limited in comparison with European, North American and Asian equivalents, this registry represents a valuable resource for the field.

A distinct set of CNS diseases are caused by autoantibodies to neuroglial surface proteins, and immunotherapy has limited ability to control these conditions in the long term. In this Review, the authors discuss in detail the B cell biology that underlies these diseases and consider the therapeutic implications.

In this Review, the authors describe the latest developments in the use of machine learning to interrogate neurodegenerative disease-related datasets. They discuss applications of machine learning to diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic development, and the challenges involved in analysing health-care data.

This Review discusses the advantages and pitfalls of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in patients with encephalitis, meningitis and myelitis. The authors outline data on mNGS test performance, cost and turnaround time and highlight future directions for mNGS technology.

Nodes of Ranvier are unmyelinated domains that enable fast saltatory propagation of action potentials along myelinated axons. This Review describes the organization and function of CNS nodes of Ranvier and considers how these nodes change in demyelinating and remyelinating disorders.

In this Review, the authors synthesize recommendations on the management of neuroimmunological disease in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. They consider these recommendations alongside the first available data from patients, and provide an overview of management approaches in the COVID-19 era.

The search for effective therapies for neurological disease has been impeded by our limited understanding of the causative molecular and cellular mechanisms. Kampmann describes how new CRISPR-based functional genomics approaches can uncover disease mechanisms and therapeutic targets in neurological diseases.

A recent study describes the yield and clinical utility of epilepsy gene panel testing in a cohort of adults with epilepsy and intellectual disability. These findings are similar to those in children with developmental epileptic encephalopathies and support the utility of testing in this subgroup of adults with epilepsy.

This Review examines the rationale for the use of virtual reality in research and rehabilitation of people with Parkinson disease. The authors provide a critical appraisal of the current state of the art, make recommendations for future research and outline clinical implications.

A new meta-analysis indicates that multiple sclerosis disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) have positive effects on cognition. High-efficacy and medium-efficacy DMTs apparently had comparable cognitive benefits; however, limitations of the original studies, including brief duration, restricted assessment and failure to account for baseline cognitive impairment, might limit the interpretation of the findings.

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified multiple loci associated with Parkinson disease; however, most of these studies were carried out in North American or European populations. A large-scale GWAS in East Asian populations has now identified two novel Parkinson disease-associated loci, which could improve risk prediction in Asian individuals.

Combined assessment of latest-generation molecular and MRI biomarkers has provided insight into the dynamics of brain volume loss after immunoablative autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation in multiple sclerosis, shedding light on the transient neurotoxic effects of this procedure.