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In this episode, we hear from not one, but two Titans of Science, together. And that's because Ed Wild and Sarah Tabrizi are neuroscientists, neurologists and long-time collaborators both based at University College London. They've devoted much of their careers to understanding Huntington's Disease. Chris Smith went to visit them in London... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
In this episode, Dr. Tony Ebel reframes common behavioral challenges seen in children with ADHD, sensory processing issues, and autism as signs of nervous system dysregulation, not misbehavior. He explains how proprioception, subluxation, and the body-to-brain connection drive constant movement, fidgeting, and stimming, and why traditional behavior strategies and medications often miss the root cause. Dr. Tony shares practical, drug-free solutions including Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care, purposeful movement, and family-centered healing to help kids regulate, focus, and thrive.-----Links & Resources:Recommended podcast episode: You Can't Work on the Brain Until You Work on the Body [Apple/Spotify]------Key Moments:(04:00) The Misdiagnosis Problem: It's Not Behavior, It's Neurology(09:00) Reframing the Issue: It's Not a Brain Issue, It's a Body Issue(13:00) Understanding Proprioception: The Missing Piece(21:00) Subluxation Explained: When Body–Brain Communication Gets Distorted(27:00) Why Your Child Feels Unsafe in Their Own Body(33:00) The Truth About Stimming: Calming an Overwhelmed Nervous System(37:00) Why Behavioral Strategies and Medications Fall Short(42:00) The Solution: It's About Sequencing, Not Either/Or(45:00) Practical Strategies: Chiropractic Care and Purposeful Movement(50:00) The Hidden Cheat Code: Healing Together as a Family-- Follow us on Socials: Instagram: @pxdocs Facebook: Dr. Tony Ebel & The PX Docs Network Youtube: The PX Docs For more information, visit PXDocs.com to read informative articles about the power of Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care. Find a PX Doc Office near me: PX DOCS DirectoryTo watch Dr. Tony's 30 min Perfect Storm Webinar: Click Here
Dr. Elizabeth Coon talks with Prof. Franziska Hopfner aboutthe frequency and disease trajectory of MSA patients who do not experience dysautonomia, in comparison to those with autonomic involvement. Read the related article in Neurology®. Disclosures can be found at Neurology.org.
Start the new year with the January 2026 Recall, featuring five episodes focused on the topic of AI in neurology. The episode begins with Dr. Stacey Clardy talking with Stephen Marche about the evolving topic of natural language processing and its impact on neurology and everyday life. The episode leads into a conversation with Drs. Halley Alexander and Sándor Beniczky discussing the use of AI to accurately interpret routine clinical EEG. The conversation continues with Drs. Trey Bateman and David T. Jones discussing the use of FDG-PET imaging and machine learning to improve diagnostic accuracy. The episode transitions into a discussion between Dr. Andy Southerland and Dr. Adam Rodman regarding the implications of LLMs in clinical reasoning and diagnostics. This month's Recall concludes with Dr. Stacey Clardy reflecting on how AI is shaping multiple aspects of life, including podcasts. Podcast links: What Natural Language Processing Could Mean for Careers in Neurology and Publications Artificial Intelligence Interpretation of EEG FDG-PET-Based Machine Learning Framework to Support Neurologic Decision-Making Superhuman Performance of a LLM on the Reasoning Tasks of a Physician Podcasting in the Age of AI Article links: The College Essay Is Dead Automated Interpretation of Clinical Electroencephalograms Using Artificial Intelligence An FDG-PET–Based Machine Learning Framework to Support Neurologic Decision-Making in Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders Superhuman Performance of a Large Language Model on The Reasoning Tasks of a Physician A Phase-2B Double-Blind Randomized International Prospective Trial of Inebilizumab in NMDAR Encephalitis: The ExTINGUISH Trial Disclosures can be found at Neurology.org.
Dr. Derek Stitt and Drs. Joseph Safdieh and Matthew S. Robbins discuss subspecialization's impact on patient care, why preserving a core neurologist identity matters, and how training can reinforce it. Show citation: Safdieh JE, Robbins MS. Opinion & Special Articles: The Core Identity of the Neurologist. Neurology. 2025;105(9):e214265. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000214265
We have all heard the saying: "New Year, New You!" Yet, embracing change is never easy, as it comes with uncertainty and the possibility of (gulp) failure. However, there is no real “failure,” only learning opportunities when your mindset is in the right framework. We will be back next week with brand new episodes for the Year 7/Season 7 debut of the Faculty Factory podcast. This week, we're excited to ring in the new year by exploring some of the best interviews we've had over this podcast's lifespan on how to make a transition decision. Interested in hearing the full conversations from these episodes? Click on the links below to explore each episode in its entirety: Navigating a “Decision to Transition” in Academic Medicine with Jochen Reiser, MD, PhD: https://facultyfactory.org/jochen-reiser/ Navigating a Transition from Academia to Industry and Back with Ludy Shih, MD, MMSc: https://facultyfactory.org/ludy-shih/ Adaptability for Success at Any Stage of Your Academic Medicine Career with Janet Bickel, MA: https://facultyfactory.org/adaptability-for-success/ First up, we hear from Jochen Reiser, MD, PhD. Dr. Reiser is the President of the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) and CEO of the UTMB Health System. He is a professor in the John Sealy School of Medicine and holds the John D. Stobo, MD Distinguished Chair. Next, we have an excerpt from a great conversation with Ludy Shih, MD, MMSc. Dr. Shih currently serves as Associate Professor of Neurology in the Department of Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine. Finally, Janet Bickel, MA, joins the show to share timeless advice on adaptability in the face of major change. We firmly believe that these interviews comprising this “best of” podcast can help faculty members or really anyone looking for a fresh start in 2026! Happy New Year to all our community and family! Learn more: https://facultyfactory.org/
Dr. Derek Stitt talks with Drs. Joseph Safdieh and Matthew S. Robbins about subspecialization's impact on patient care, why preserving a core neurologist identity matters, and how training can reinforce it. Read the related Resident & Fellow Section article in Neurology®. Disclosures can be found at Neurology.org.
Dr. Shuvro Roy and Dr. Rosa Cortese discuss new ways to improve MS and MOGAD diagnosis, including how AI and imaging could enhance accuracy and influence future care. Show citations: Cortese R, Sforazzini F, Gentile G, et al. Deep Learning Modeling to Differentiate Multiple Sclerosis From MOG Antibody-Associated Disease. Neurology. 2025;105(6):e214075. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000214075
My guest this month is Brad Fortney. Coach Fortney is the performance and wellness coach at Enterprise High School, located in Enterprise Alabama. Brad is also the head track coach as well as the head coach for girl's flag football. We sit down and discuss some ways to incorporate neurology into your strength and conditioning program. From teaching proper breathing techniques to training the feet, eyes, and more. Coach Fortney shares with us some of the tools he's implemented at Enterprise and some of the influences that lead him down these rabbit holes. We also discuss coaching girls flag football. Enjoy! Coach Fortney on X: https://x.com/CoachFortneyCoach Fortney on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachfortney/Coach Fortney Article on TFC : https://trackfootballconsortium.com/adapting-to-feeding-the-cats/Our two partner sponsors for this episode are PLAE and RockDaisy. Check their websites out below. www.plae.uswww.rockdaisy.comIron Giants Strength Summit Dates and Locations: https://www.glazierclinics.com/strength-summitNHSSCA State Clinic Info: https://nhssca.us/events/list/?tribe-bar-search=state
In this episode of the Brain and Life podcast, hosts Dr. Daniel Correa and Dr. Katy Peters answer your listener questions, touching on caregiving for Alzheimer's, staying motivated with Parkinson's, and the role of supplements in managing MS. Additional Resources Why Advanced Care Planning Is Essential for Caregivers How to Avoid Caregiver Burnout by Taking Care of Yourself How Peer Mentors Can Help Patients Navigate Life with Neurologic Disease The Gut-Brain Connection: Why a Healthy Microbiome Is Key to Disease Prevention Exploring the Link Between Gut and Brain Health Brain & Life Podcast Episodes on These Topics Actress Yvette Nicole Brown Discusses the Caregiving Journey The Future of Caregiving with Kat McGowan Ed Begley Jr. on Utilizing a Healthy Lifestyle to Thrive with Parkinson's Disease World's Toughest Row with Brendan Cusick and Pat Morrissey: Part Two We want to hear from you! Have a question or want to hear a topic featured on the Brain & Life Podcast? · Record a voicemail at 612-928-6206 · Email us at BLpodcast@brainandlife.org Social Media: Hosts: Dr. Daniel Correa @neurodrcorrea; Dr. Katy Peters @KatyPetersMDPh
Careful assessment and individualized care, provided by a skilled multidisciplinary care team, are emphasized in the holistic approach to neuropalliative care, which considers physical, psychological, social, spiritual, and existential aspects for people with neuromuscular diseases. In this episode, Gordon Smith, MD, FAAN, speaks with David J. Oliver, PhD, FRCP, FRCGP, FEAN, author of the article "Neuropalliative Care in Neuromuscular Disorders" in the Continuum® December 2025 Neuropalliative Care issue. Dr. Smith is a Continuum® Audio interviewer and a professor and chair of neurology at Kenneth and Dianne Wright Distinguished Chair in Clinical and Translational Research at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. Dr. Oliver is an honorary professor of Tizard Centre at the University of Kent in Canterbury, United Kingdom. Additional Resources Read the article: Neuropalliative Care in Neuromuscular Disorders Subscribe to Continuum®: shop.lww.com/Continuum Earn CME (available only to AAN members): continpub.com/AudioCME Continuum® Aloud (verbatim audio-book style recordings of articles available only to Continuum® subscribers): continpub.com/Aloud More about the American Academy of Neurology: aan.com Social Media facebook.com/continuumcme @ContinuumAAN Host: @gordonsmithMD Full episode transcript available here Dr Jones: This is Dr Lyell Jones, Editor-in-Chief of Continuum. Thank you for listening to Continuum Audio. Be sure to visit the links in the episode notes for information about earning CME, subscribing to the journal, and exclusive access to interviews not featured on the podcast. Dr Smith: Hello, this is Dr Gordon Smith. Today I've got the great pleasure of interviewing Dr David Oliver about his article on neuropalliative care and neuromuscular disorders, which appears in the December 2025 Continuum issue on neuropalliative care. David, welcome to the Continuum podcast, and please introduce yourself to our audience. Dr Oliver: Thank you. It's a pleasure and a privilege to be here. I'm a retired consultant in palliative medicine in the UK. I worked at the Wisdom Hospice in Rochester for over thirty years, and I'm also an honorary professor at the University of Kent in Canterbury in the UK. I've had a long interest in palliative care in neurological diseases. Hopefully we can talk about a bit later. Dr Smith: I really look forward to learning a little bit more about your path and experiences. But I wonder if, before we get into the meat of neuropalliative care with a focus on neuromuscular, if maybe you can kind of set the stage by just defining palliative care. I mean, my experience is that people think of this in different ways, and a lot of folks think- hear palliative care, and they immediately go to end-of-life care or comfort care. So, what- how should we think about maybe the discipline of palliative care or neuropalliative care? Dr Oliver: I see palliative care as very much responding to people's needs, whether that's physical needs, psychological needs, social or spiritual or existential. So, it can be much earlier in the disease progression. And I think particularly for neurological diseases, early involvement may be very important. Dr Smith: That was actually going to be my first substantive question, really, was when to begin the conversation and what does that look like and how does it evolve over time. You have a really great figure in the article that kind of emphasizes the various stages within a patient's journey that, you know, palliative care can become involved. But I wonder if you could use ALS as a good example and describe what that looks like from when a patient is first diagnosed with ALS through their course? Dr Oliver: I think particularly in ALS at the beginning, soon after diagnosis, someone may have a lot of distress and a lot of questions that they need answering. This is a disease they've not had any contact with before. And they don't understand what's going on, they don't understand the disease. So, there may be a great need to have the opportunity to talk about the disease, what may happen, what is happening, how it's going to affect them and their family. As think time goes on, there may be later they develop swallowing problems, and that will need to be talking about a feeding tube and gastrostomy. And again, there may be a lot of issues for the person and their family. As they deteriorate, they may have respiratory problems and need to have discussion about ventilatory support, either by PAP, noninvasive ventilation, or even tracheostomy. And again, I think that's a big issue that needs wide discussion. And then it may be at the final few months of the disease, where they are deteriorating, that they may have increased needs, and their families may have those needs after the death. And I think often families bereaved from someone with a neurological disease such as ALS need a great deal of support, having many mixed emotions. There may be a feeling of relief that they're not involved in that caring, but then a feeling of guilt that they shouldn't be having those feelings. So, I think that can happen over a period of… what with ALS it may be two, three, four years, but it may be similar changes over time with any patient with a neurological disease. It may be ten or fifteen years with Parkinson's or five to ten years with a progressive supranuclear palsy, but there'll be this similar need to look at palliative care during their disease progression. Dr Smith: So, I'm curious at the time of diagnosis of ALS, how far out in the future do you provide information? So a specific question would be, do you talk about end-of-life management? In my experience, ALS patients are sometimes interested in knowing about that. Or do you really focus on what's in front of you in the next three to six months, for instance? Dr Oliver: I think it's both. Obviously, we need to talk about the next three to six months, but often giving patients the opportunity to talk about what's going to happen in the future, what may happen at the end of life, I think is important. And I think a disease like ALS, if they look it up on the Internet, they may have a lot of very distressing entries there. There's a lot about how distressing dying with ALS is. And actually confront those and discuss those issues early is really important. Dr Smith: So of course, the other thing that comes up immediately with an ALS diagnosis---or, for that matter, with any other neurodegenerative problem---is prognosis. Do you have guidance and how our listeners who are giving a diagnosis of ALS or similar disorder should approach the prognostication discussion? Dr Oliver: It's often very difficult. Certainly in the UK, people may have- be a year into their disease from their first symptoms before they're diagnosed, and I've seen figures, that's similar across the world. So, people may be actually quite way through their disease progression, but I do think we have to remember that the figures show that at five years, 25% of people are still alive, and 5 to 10% are still alive at ten years. We mustn't say you are going to die in the next two or three years, because that may not be so. And I think to have the vagueness but also the opportunity to talk, that we are talking of a deterioration over time and we don't know how that will be for you. I always stress how individual I think ALS is for patients. Dr Smith: One of the other concepts that is familiar with anyone who does ALS and clearly comes through in your article---which is really outstanding, by the way. So, thank you and congratulations for that---is the importance of multidisciplinary teams. Can you talk a little bit about how neuropalliative care sits within a multidisciplinary care model? Dr Oliver: I think the care should be multidisciplinary. Certainly in the UK, we recommended multidisciplinary team care for ALS in particular, from the time of diagnosis. And I think palliative care should be part of that multidisciplinary team. It may be a member of the team who has that palliative care experience or someone with specialist experience. Because I think the important thing is that everyone caring for someone with ALS or other neuromuscular diseases should be providing palliative care to some extent: listening to people, discussing their goals, managing their symptoms. And a specialist may only be needed if those are more complicated or particularly difficult. So, I think it is that the team needs to work together to support people and their families. So, looking at the physical aspects where the physiotherapist or occupational therapist may be very important, the psychologicals are a counsellor or psychologist. The social aspects, most of our patients are part of wider families, and we need to be looking at supporting their carers and within their family as well as the person. And so that may involve social work and other professionals. And the spiritual, the why me, their fears about the future, may involve a spiritual counsellor or a chaplain or, if appropriate, a religious leader appropriate to that- for that person. So, I think it is that wider care provided by the team. Dr Smith: I'm just reflecting on, again, your earlier answers about the Continuum of neuropalliative care. Knowing your patient is super valuable here. So, having come to know someone through their disease course must pay dividends as you get to some of these harder questions that come up later during the disease progression. Dr Oliver: I think that's the very important use of palliative care from early on in the diagnosis. It's much easier to talk about, perhaps, the existential fears of someone while they can still talk openly. To do that through a communication aid can be very difficult. To talk about someone's fear of death through a communication aid is really very, very difficult. The multidisciplinary team, I think, works well if all the members are talking together. So that perhaps the speech therapist has been to see someone and has noticed their breathing is more difficult, comes back and talks to the doctor and the physiotherapist. The social worker notices the speech is more difficult and comes back and speaks to the speech therapist. So, I think that sort of team where people are working very closely together can really optimize the care. And as you said, knowing the person, and for them to know you and to trust you, I think that's important. Those first times that people meet is so important in establishing trust. And if you only meet people when they're very disabled and perhaps not able to communicate very easily, that's really difficult. Dr Smith: I think you're reading my mind, actually, because I was really interested in talking about communication. And you mentioned a few times in your article about voice banking, which is likely to be a new concept for many of our listeners. And I would imagine the spectrum of tools that are becoming available for augmented communication for patients who have ALS or other disorders that impair speech must be impressive. I wonder if you could give us an update on what the state of the art is in terms of approaching communication. Dr Oliver: Well, I think we all remember Stephen Hawking, the professor from Cambridge, who had a very robotic voice which wasn't his. Now people may have their own voice on a communication aid. I think the use of whether it's a mobile phone or iPad, other computer systems, can actually turn what someone types into their own voice. And voice banking is much easier than it used to be. Only a few years ago, someone would have to read for an hour or two hours so the computer could pick up all the different aspects of their voice. Now it's a few minutes. And it has been even- I've known that people have taken their answer phone off a telephone and used that to produce a voice that is very, very near to the person. So that when someone does type out, the voice that comes out will be very similar to their own. I remember one video of someone who'd done this and they called their dog, and the dog just jumped into the air when he suddenly heard his master's voice for the first time in several months. So, I think it's very dramatic and very helpful for the person, who no longer feels a robot, but also for their family that can recognize their father, their husband, their wife's speech again. Dr Smith: Very humanizing, isn't it? Dr Oliver: There is a stigma of having the robotic voice. And if we can remove that stigma and someone can feel more normal, that would be our aim. Dr Smith: As you've alluded to, and for the large majority---really all of our ALS patients, barring something unexpected---we end up in preparing for death and preparing for end of life. I wonder what advice you have in that process, managing fear of death and working with our patients as they approach the end of their journey. Dr Oliver: I think the most important thing is listening and trying to find what their particular concerns are. And as I said earlier, they may have understood from what they've read in books or the Internet that the death from ALS is very distressing. However, I think we can say there are several studies now from various countries where people have looked at what happens at the end of life for people with ALS. Choking to death, being very distressed, are very, very rare if the symptoms are managed effectively beforehand, preparations are made so that perhaps medication can be given quickly if someone does develop some distress so that it doesn't become a distressing crisis. So, I think we can say that distress at the end of life with ALS is unusual, and probably no different to any other disease group. It's important to make sure that people realize that with good symptom control, with good palliative care, there is a very small risk of choking or of great distress at the end of life. Dr Smith: Now, I would imagine many patients have multiple different types of fear of death; one, process, what's the pain and experience going to be like? But there's also being dead, you know, fear of the end of life. And then this gets into comments you made earlier about spirituality and psychology. How do you- what's your experience in handling that? Because that's a harder problem, it seems, to really provide concrete advice about. Dr Oliver: Yeah. And so, I think it's always important to know when someone says they're frightened of the future, to check whether it is the dying process or after death. I've got no answer for what's going to happen afterwards, but I can listen to what someone may have in their past, their concerns, their experience. You know, is their experience of someone dying their memories of someone screaming in pain in an upstairs bedroom while they were a child? Was their grandfather died? Trying to find out what particular things may be really a problem to them and that we can try and address. But others, we can't answer what's going to happen after death. If someone is particularly wanting to look at that, I think that may be involving a spiritual advisor or their local spiritual/religious leader. But often I think it's just listening and understanding where they are. Dr Smith: So, you brought up bereavement earlier and you discussed it in the article. In my experience is that oftentimes the families are very, very impacted by the journey of ALS. And while ALS patients are remarkably resilient, it's a huge burden on family, loved ones, and their community. Can you talk a bit about the role of palliative care in the bereavement process, maybe preparing for bereavement and then after the loss of their loved one? Dr Oliver: Throughout the disease progression, we need to be supporting the carers as much as we are the patient. They are very much involved. As you said, the burden of care may be quite profound and very difficult for them. So, it's listening, supporting them, finding out what their particular concerns are. Are they frightened about what's going to happen at the end of life as well? Are they concerned of how they're going to cope or how the person's going to cope? And then after the death, it's allowing them to talk about what's happened and how they are feeling now, cause I think having had that enormous input in care, then suddenly everything stops. And also, the support systems they've had for perhaps months of the carers coming in, the doctor, the nurse, the physiotherapist, everyone coming in, they all stop coming. So, their whole social system suddenly stops and becomes much reduced. And I'm afraid certainly in the UK if someone is bereaved, they may not have the contact with their friends and family because they're afraid to come and see them. So, they may become quite isolated and reduced in what they can do. So, I think it's allowing them to discuss what has happened. And I think that's as important sometimes for members of the multidisciplinary team, because we as doctors, nurses and the wider team will also have some aspects of bereavement as we face not seeing that person who we've looked after for many years and perhaps in quite an intensive way. So, we need to be looking at how we support ourselves. And I think that's another important role of the multidisciplinary team. I always remember in our team, sometimes I would say, I find this person really difficult to cope with. And the rest of the people around the team would go have a sigh of relief because they felt the same, but they didn't like to say. And once we could talk about it, we could support each other and work out what we could do to help us help the patient in the most effective way. Dr Smith: Well, David, I think that's a great point to end on. I think you've done a really great job of capturing why someone would want to be a palliative care specialist or be involved in palliative care, because one of the themes throughout this conversation is the very significant personal and care impact that you have on patients and families. So, I really appreciate your sharing your wisdom. I really encourage all of our listeners to check out the article, it's really outstanding. I wonder if maybe you might just briefly tell us a little bit about how you got into this space? It's obviously one for which you have a great deal of passion and wisdom. How did you end up where you are? Dr Oliver: I became interested in palliative care as a medical student, and actually I trained as a family doctor, but I went to Saint Christopher's Hospice following that. I had actually had contact with them while I was a medical student, so I worked Saint Christopher's Hospice in South London when Dame Cecily Saunders was still working there. And at that time Christopher's had sixty-two beds, and at least eight of those beds were reserved for people with ALS or other neurological diseases. And I became very involved in one or two patients and their care. And Dame Sicily Saunders asked me to write something on ALS for their bookshelf that they had on the education area. So, I wrote, I think, four drafts. I went from sort of C minus to just about passable on the fourth draft. And that became my big interest in particularly ALS, and as time went on, in other neurological diseases. When I went to the Wisdom Hospice as a consultant, I was very keen to carry on looking after people with ALS, and we involved ourselves with other neurological patients. That's how I got started. Having that interest, listening to patients, documenting what we did became important as a way of showing how palliative care could have a big role in neurological disease. And over the years, I've been pressing again and again for the early involvement of palliative care in neurological diseases. And I think that is so important so that there can be a proper holistic assessment of people, that they can build up the trust in their carers and in the multidisciplinary team so that they can live as positively as possible. And as a result of that, that their death will be without distress and with their family with them. Dr Smith: Well, David, you've convinced and inspired me, and I'm confident you have our listeners as well. Thank you so much for a really informative, enjoyable, inspiring conversation. Dr Oliver: Thank you for inviting me. Dr Smith: Again, today I've been interviewing Dr David Oliver about his article on neuropalliative care and neuromuscular disorders, which appears in the December 2025 Continuum issue on neuropalliative care. Be sure to check out Continuum Audio episodes from this and other issues, and thanks to our listeners for joining us today. Dr Monteith: This is Dr Teshamae Monteith, Associate Editor of Continuum Audio. If you've enjoyed this episode, you'll love the journal, which is full of in-depth and clinically relevant information important for neurology practitioners. Use the link in the episode notes to learn more and subscribe. AAN members, you can get CME for listening to this interview by completing the evaluation at continpub.com/audioCME. Thank you for listening to Continuum Audio.
What if your brain is the reason your goals aren't sticking and there's a science-backed way to fix it? Michelle MacDonald welcomes back neuroscience-based practitioner and communication expert Michelle Baty for a powerful conversation on the Neurology of Goal Setting. As the creator of the Neuroscience of Coaching, Baty breaks down why most goals fail, not due to laziness, but due to overlooked neurological barriers. Together, they explore the 3 critical brain-based elements of effective goal pursuit, the What, Why, and How, and the 4 nervous system triggers that sabotage follow-through. This episode blends personal growth, a fitness mindset, and practical neuroscience into a conversation that's as inspiring as it is actionable. Whether you're a coach or someone chasing change, this conversation offers clarity, compassion, and a roadmap that actually works. Favorite Moments1:34 The Brain Needs Specific Targets: Why Vagueness Destroys Progress14:28 Everyone's in Survival Mode—Start Coaching Like It27:13 The Push-Pull Neurology Behind Motivation and Meaning53:19 The Quick Goal-Setting Audit Every Woman Needs “The best coaches out there have suffered. They've wrestled with things. They have deep, personal insight on top of professional skills. That's when we win.” – Michelle BatyGUEST: MICHELLE BATY, NEUROPSYCH PRAC (IFS, PVT, SE)Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Neuroscience of Coaching Instagram | WebsiteFull Guest Bio: Michelle Baty is a neuroscience-based practitioner, communication expert, and founder of The Neuroscience of Coaching. With nearly two decades of experience, she helps high-performing coaches, athletes, and leaders break through mental barriers using brain-based strategies and precision communication. Michelle is known for translating complex neuroscience into practical tools that drive sustainable transformation, personal growth, and a powerful coaching mindset.CONNECT WITH MICHELLEWebsite | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | XFull Michelle Bio: Michelle MacDonald is the creator of the FITNESS MODEL BLUEPRINT™ and host of the Stronger By Design™ podcast. Known globally for her transformation programs, Michelle empowers women to redefine aging through evidence-based strength training, nutrition, and mindset practices. Since 2012, she has coached thousands of women online, leveraging her expertise as a Physique Champion and ISSA Strength and Conditioning Specialist. She co-founded Tulum Strength Club and ehttps://events.thewonderwomen.com/ Join The Wonder Women for a transformational week in Tulum, Mexico at the Amansala Resort & Spa. This retreat blends fitness, mindset, and community to help you reset your body, restore your energy, and reignite your confidence. Learn, move, and connect in paradise, with the women who understand your journey.
Dr. Shuvro Roy talks with Dr. Rosa Cortese about new ways to improve multiple sclerosis and MOGAD diagnosis, including how AI and imaging could enhance accuracy and influence future care. Read the related article in Neurology®. Disclosures can be found at Neurology.org.
The Daily Quiz - Science and Nature Today's Questions: Question 1: What is the medical term for the kneecap? Question 2: What chemical compound makes cream of tartar? Question 3: What is the chemical formula for mercury? Question 4: What is the word for a group of buffaloes? Question 5: What is the name of the minute organisms found drifting near the surface of seas and lakes? Question 6: What is the word for a male giraffe? Question 7: The small red deer is the only type of deer found on which continent? Question 8: What is Neurology the study of? Question 9: Which of these birds typically do NOT use their feet for walking and instead use them mainly for perching? This podcast is produced by Klassic Studios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Drs. Mahinda Yogarajah, Benjamin Tolchin, and Jon Stone discuss recommendations for clinicians, patients, and other stakeholders on the management of functional seizures. Show citation: Tolchin B, Goldstein LH, Reuber M, et al. Management of Functional Seizures Practice Guideline Executive Summary: Report of the AAN Guidelines Subcommittee. Neurology. 2026;106(1):e214466. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000214466 Show transcript: Dr. Mahinda Yogarajah: Welcome to this edition of Neurology Minute. I'm your host for this. My name's Mahinda Yogarajah. I've just finished interviewing Dr. Ben Tolchin and Jon Stone for this week's Neurology® Podcast. For today's Neurology Minute, I'm hoping Ben can tell us the main points of the podcast and the paper discussed in that podcast. Dr. Ben Tolchin: We discussed the AAN guideline on the Management of Functional Seizures. This is the first American Academy of Neurology evidence-based guideline on functional neurologic disorder. It includes a systematic review of the randomized controlled trials relating to the treatment of this disorder, which found that psychological interventions are possibly effective in improving the chance of achieving freedom from functional seizures, in reducing the frequency of functional seizures, in improving quality of life, and in improving anxiety. In addition to the systematic review, there are clinical recommendations based on the systematic review and on related evidence. The recommendations deal with all stages of the diagnosis, management, and treatment of functional seizures and are particularly relevant to neurologists caring for patients with functional seizures. In addition, there are recommendations for future research relating to the diagnosis and management of functional seizures. Dr. Mahinda Yogarajah: Thank you, Ben. For more information, I'd recommend go to the main podcast or go and have a read of the article that's been published in Neurology® on the Management of Functional Seizures Practice Guidelines.
Dr. Mahinda Yogarajah talks with Drs. Benjamin Tolchin and Jon Stone about recommendations for clinicians, patients, and other stakeholders on the management of functional seizures. Read the related article in Neurology®. Disclosures can be found at Neurology.org.
Drs. Greg Cooper, Natalia Rost, and Behnam Sabayan discuss preventive neurology and the need for neurologists to move beyond diagnosis and treatment toward proactive strategies for brain health. Show citation: Sabayan B, Boden-Albala B, Rost NS. An Ounce of Prevention: The Growing Need for Preventive Neurologists. Neurology. 2025;105(1):e213785. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000213785 Show transcript: Dr. Greg Cooper: Hi, this is Greg Cooper. I just finished interviewing Behnam Sabayan and Natalia Rost for this week's Neurology® Podcast. For today's Neurology Minute, I'm hoping you can tell us the main points of your paper, An Ounce of Prevention, the Growing Need for Preventative Neurologist. Dr. Behnam Sabayan: We are living in a very exciting time for the field of neurology where we are not just getting very good at diagnosis and treatment of neurological condition, but also we are stepping one step back, and that means that we will find the root causes of neurological conditions. We would act as preventive specialists and we would decrease the burden of neurological conditions, not just at the individual level, but also at the population level. And this paper calls for thinking about playing roles at different levels and stages from our offices and our rounds all the way to the community to be brain health advocates and helping other fields and disciplines to reduce the burden of neurological conditions. Dr. Greg Cooper: Well, thank you for that summary and for all of your work on this topic. Please check out this week's podcast to hear the full interview or read the full article published in Neurology®, An Ounce of Prevention: The Growing Need for Preventative Neurologists. Thank you.
Imagine sitting at home and then all of a sudden you hear a men's choir belting out “The Star Spangled Banner.” You check your phone, computer, radio. Nothing's playing. You look outside, no one's there. That's what happened to neurologist Bruce Dobkin after he received a cochlear implant. He set out to learn everything he could about the condition, called musical hallucinosis.In a story from August, Host Ira Flatow talks with Dobkin about his decision to publish his account in a medical journal and why the condition is more common than he realized.Guest: Dr. Bruce Dobkin is a neurologist at UCLA Health.Transcript is available at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.
In this episode of the Brain and Life podcast, co-host Dr. Katy Peters is joined by tennis legend Monica Seles. They discuss Monica's iconic career, the life lessons she learned from tennis, her experience with Myasthenia Gravis, and the importance of advocacy for health awareness. Dr. Peters is then joined by Dr. Andrea Markl Corse, Professor of Neurology and Director of the Myasthenia Gravis Clinic at The University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Dr. Corse explains what Myasthenia Gravis is and why advocacy makes a difference. Additional Resources Physical Activity Helps Manage Myasthenia Gravis Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America What is Myasthenia Gravis? Other Brain & Life Podcast Episodes on These Topics Recovery Through Rhythm: Jazz Musician John Stein's Myasthenia Gravis Journey Ashley Brooks on Advocating for Herself and Others with Myasthenia Gravis Soap Opera Star Suzanne Rogers Brings Awareness to Myasthenia Gravis We want to hear from you! Have a question or want to hear a topic featured on the Brain & Life Podcast? · Record a voicemail at 612-928-6206 · Email us at BLpodcast@brainandlife.org Social Media: Guest: Monica Seles @monicaseles10s; Dr. Andrea Corse @unc_neurology Hosts: Dr. Daniel Correa @neurodrcorrea; Dr. Katy Peters @KatyPetersMDPhD
Severe acute brain injury presents acute and longitudinal challenges. Addressing total pain involves managing physical symptoms and providing emotional, social, and spiritual support to enhance quality of life for patients and their families. In this episode, Kait Nevel, MD, speaks with Claire J. Creutzfeldt, MD, author of the article "Neuropalliative Care in Severe Acute Brain Injury and Stroke" in the Continuum® December 2025 Neuropalliative Care issue. Dr. Nevel is a Continuum® Audio interviewer and a neurologist and neuro-oncologist at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, Indiana. Dr. Liewluck is a professor in the department of neurology at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. Additional Resources Read the article: Neuropalliative Care in Severe Acute Brain Injury and Stroke With Dr. Claire Creutzfeldt Subscribe to Continuum®: shop.lww.com/Continuum Earn CME (available only to AAN members): continpub.com/AudioCME Continuum® Aloud (verbatim audio-book style recordings of articles available only to Continuum® subscribers): continpub.com/Aloud More about the American Academy of Neurology: aan.com Social Media facebook.com/continuumcme @ContinuumAAN Host: @IUneurodocmom Guest: @cj_creutzfeldt Full episode transcript available here Dr Jones: This is Dr Lyell Jones, Editor-in-Chief of Continuum. Thank you for listening to Continuum Audio. Be sure to visit the links in the episode notes for information about earning CME, subscribing to the journal, and exclusive access to interviews not featured on the podcast. Dr Nevel: Hello, this is Dr Kait Nevel. Today I'm interviewing Dr Claire Creutzfeldt about her article on neuropalliative care in severe acute brain injury and stroke, which appears in the December 2025 Continuum issue on neuropalliative care. Claire, welcome to the podcast, and please introduce yourself to the audience. Dr Creutzfeldt: Thanks, thanks for having me. Yeah, I'm an associate professor of neurology at the University of Washington. I'm a stroke neurologist and palliative care researcher and really have focused my career on how we can best integrate palliative care principles into the care of patients with severe stroke and other neurocritical illness. Dr Nevel: Wonderful. Well, I'm looking forward to talking to you today about your excellent article that I really enjoyed reading. To get us started, can you tell us what you feel is the most important takeaway from your article for the practicing neurologist? Dr Creutzfeldt: Yeah. You know, I think one is always a little biased by what one is working on currently. And I think what I'm most excited about or feel more strongly about is this idea that stroke and severe acute brain injury are not an event, but really a chronic illness that people are left with usually for the rest of their lives, that change their life radically. And I think that education, research funding, also the clinical setting, current healthcare models aren't set up for that. And this idea that severe acute brain injury, you know, should be viewed as a lifelong condition that requires support across all ranges of goals of care. So curative, restorative, palliative and end-of-life care. Dr Nevel: Yeah, I love that part of your article, how you really highlighted that concept. And I think obviously that's something that we see in neurology and learn, especially as we transition out of our residency stages. But I think especially for the trainees listening, can sometimes be hospital inpatient-heavy, if you will, that kind of you can lose sight of that, that these acute strokes, severe acute brain injury, it turns into a chronic illness or condition that patients are dealing with lifelong. Dr Creutzfeldt: Often what we do in a very acute setting is like, is really cool and sexy and like, we can cure people from their stroke if they come, you know, at the right time with the right kind of stroke to the right hospital. And often the symptoms that people come in with much later on are harder to treat and address, partly because the focus in education, clinical and research just hasn't been as much on that time. Dr Nevel: Yeah, absolutely. So, can you talk to us about this concept of total pain? What does it mean, and how do we incorporate this concept into the way that we view our approach, our patient care? Dr Creutzfeldt: Total pain is a very old word, but it's sort of coming back into fashion in the palliative care world because it really describes all those sources of suffering or sources of distress, like, beyond what we sort of really think of as sort of the physical symptoms in recovery of stroke. As many of you know, palliative care often thinks in this multidimensional way of the physical distress, physical pain, but also psychological, emotional, social and spiritual, existential. And both- we sort of created sort of a figure that incorporates all of them and also includes both patients and their family members. They share some of these sources of distress, but they also have distinct ones that need to be addressed. And at the core of that total pain is what we need to provide, is sort of optimal communication and goals-of-care prognosis. Dr Nevel: Yeah, I'm thinking about all of those aspects and not just focusing on one. How does the disease trajectory of severe acute brain injury and stroke play a role in the palliative care approach? And how should we kind of going back to that original point of this idea of severe acute brain injury being an acute event and then oftentimes turning into kind of a chronic condition? How does that play a role in how we address palliative care with our patients, or kind of the stages of palliative care with our patients? Dr Creutzfeldt: Yeah, I think several things, especially for neurologists, is the more traditional palliative care illnesses, like cancer or congestive heart failure, illnesses where people are diagnosed when they're still functioning at a relatively high level and tend to have time to consider their prognosis and their goals of care in the end of life wishes and to meet with palliative care and to consider their personhood. Who am I? What's most important for me? And stroke, people with stroke, they not only present at their worst, they meet us at their worst, at a time when the patient themselves usually can't speak for themselves, when their personhood has been stripped from them. And then as providers, we, you know, we often really just get that one opportunity to get the conversation right and to guide people towards, you know, what we would call optimal and goal-concordant care. So, the challenges are many. I do think that the burden of these early conversations is on neurologists and really requires the neurologists to show compassion, to learn communication skills, think really hard about how you want to communicate prognosis and goals of care early on, because it's going to color people's experiences and decisions longitudinally. You asked about, sort of, this trajectory. And I do think it's important to think about, you know, what really happens even after the thrombectomy or even after we discharge people, especially from the ICU. Because for us, often after sort of day five or six, you know, we're sort of done. We're thinking about secondary stroke prevention. And, you know, how do I get the patient to rehab or out of the hospital? For the patients and families, this is when it really all just starts. You know, this is when they- when they're first memories are usually, you know, they hardly remember that acute setting. And so, when they are medically stable, we're done with the acute blood pressure treatment where we've removed the Foley, we've made a decision about nutrition. For us that tends to be a time where we let go a little; for patients and families that tends to actually be the time when they have to think about how am I going to live with this and what are the next several months or years going to look like? And so being there for them is important. Dr Nevel: That's such a, I think, important point, that when we have our plan in place, we know medically what the plan is for that patient and we're starting to step back, think about rehab or discharge. That's when oftentimes more quote-unquote "reality" steps in for patients and families about what their future is going to look like. Dr Creutzfeldt: And medical stability is not even close to neurological stability. And so, they are still in the middle of real prognostic uncertainty, and often waxing and waning symptoms or new symptoms coming up for them. Like pain, you know, post thalamic pain syndrome, just as an example, tends to be something that doesn't develop until later. Dr Nevel: Right, right. Absolutely. And since you touched on this concept of prognostic uncertainty, and, you know, that's something that's so challenging in severe acute brain injury, especially the early days when you talk about this, you know, that things tend to become a little bit more certain as more time passes. But these are really hard conversations because a lot of times feel like big decisions that need to be made early on, you know? Dr Creutzfeldt: Huge! Dr Nevel: Sometimes things like trach and PEG and things like that. How do you approach that conversation? I know you talk about that a little bit in your article. You touch on that, some of the, kind of, strategies or concepts that we use in palliative care to approach this prognostic uncertainty with patients. Dr Creutzfeldt: Yeah, I think the challenge is to balance this acknowledging uncertainty with still being able to guide the families and allow them to trust you. So, there are a few things that I have said in the past, and I have taught in the past, and I don't use anymore. They include sentences like I don't have a crystal ball, for example. Nobody was asking you for one. The other one that I want us to avoid, I think, is the sentence we are terrible at prognosticating. Because what I have seen is that that sentence carries on for families. And families at nine months are still saying, well, you guys are terrible at prognosticating. That's what you told me. First of all, it's all relative, and relative to non-neural providers---even at this time using Google and AI, we're actually quite good at prognosticating. It's just that a wide range early on. So that's how I would change that sentence is, early on after stroke, the range of possible outcomes is still very wide. And so, you've communicated uncertainty without saying I have no idea what I'm doing, which is not true. That is in order to help families be able to trust you and also to trust the person who comes after you, because we all know that a week or two after admission, we do know a lot more. And if we told them on day one that we're terrible at prognosticating, it's hard to sort of build that trust again later. You also asked about, you know, communication strategies. And I think it's this range of possible outcomes that I think is a good guideline for us to work on. And that range, sort of like a confidence interval, is still very wide early on. And as we collect more information over time, both about the clinical scenario that is evolving in front of us and about the patient who we are learning more about over time, this confidence interval becomes smaller. And that's where this idea of the best case/worst case scenario sort of conversation, for example, comes from: that range of possible outcomes. Dr Nevel: So, what to you is most challenging about palliative care for patients with severe acute brain injury and stroke? Dr Creutzfeldt: I think the biggest challenge in stroke care is balancing restorative and curative care with palliative and end-of-life. And that is especially early on when sort of everything is possible, when patients and families want to hear the good news and, I think, are also quite willing to hear the bad news, and probably should. So, I think that that communication is hard when, you know, really we want to provide goal-concordant care. We want to make sure that people get that care that is most important to them and can meet the outcomes that are most important to them. Dr Nevel: Yeah, agree. What is most rewarding? Dr Creutzfeldt: I think these patients and families have enormous needs and are extremely grateful if they can find someone that they can trust and who can guide them and who will stick with them. And when I say someone, I think that can be a team. That always depends on how we communicate. In the ideal world, it would be the same person following someone over time, the patient and the family over time. But in our current healthcare system, we're usually moving on from one place to another and being able to communicate with the people that come after you. Telling the family that you're a team and supporting them through that, I think, is really important. Dr Nevel: Yeah. And like you touched upon, patients and families, I think oftentimes they're looking for, you mentioned, you know, the sharing and communication and they're looking for information. Dr Creutzfeldt: You know, what's really rewarding is working with a team. And health care has really excelled at that. And I think we have a lot done from them is that it's not always the MD that family needs. And we have a lot of people at our side, and I think we need more of them. Chaplains, social workers; psychologists, actually, I think; and nurses or- in an ideal world, would really work together to support these multidisciplinary, multidimensional symptoms. Dr Nevel: Yeah. I think it benefits both the patient and the care team, too. Dr Creutzfeldt: Absolutely! Dr Nevel: It's helpful to be part of a team. You know, there's camaraderie in that and, like, a shared goal, and I think the thought is rewarding, too. Dr Creutzfeldt: If we really try and think about severe stroke as a chronic illness or severe acute brain injury as a chronic illness not unlike cancer, then if you think about the systems that have been built for cancer where an entire team of providers follows the patient and their family member over time, I think we need that, too. Dr Nevel: Yeah, I agree. That point, every member of the team has overlapping things, but has a slightly individual role to a degree too, which is also helpful to the patient and the family. You talked about this a little bit in your article, and I want to hear more from you about what we know about healthcare disparities in this area of medicine and in providing palliative care for patients with severe acute brain injury and stroke. Dr Creutzfeldt: Yeah, I think actually a lot of the huge decisions that we make, especially early on, are highly variable. And can identify people by various things, whether it's their race or ethnicity or sex or age, or even where they live in the United States. But decisions tend to be made differently. And so, just as an example, we know that I think people who identify as black, for sure, are less likely to receive the acute, often life-saving interventions like TNK or thrombectomy and more likely to undergo longer-term, life-prolonging treatment like PEG and trach. That seems true, after adjusting for clinical severity and things like that. And so disparities like that may be based on cultural preferences or well-informed decisions, and then we can support them. But of course, unfortunately there's a clear idea when we see, often, unexplained variability that a lot is due to uninformed decisions and poor communication and possibly racism in certain parts. And that is, of course, something that has to be addressed. Dr Nevel: Yeah, absolutely. What are future areas of research in this area? I know you do a lot of research in this area and I'd love to hear about some of it and what you think is exciting or kind of new and going to change the way we think about things, perhaps. Dr Creutzfeldt: I think every aspect of stroke continues to be exciting and just, you know, our focus of today and my research is on palliative care. I mean, obviously, the things we can do in rehab these days have to be embraced, and the acute stuff. But I think this longitudinal support, an ideally longitudinal multidisciplinary support for patients and families, requires more research. I think it will help us with prognosis. It will help us with communicating things early on and learning more about sort of multidimensional symptoms of these patients over time. That requires more research. And then, how can we change the healthcare system---in a sustainable way, obviously---to maximize quality of life for the survivors and their families? Dr Nevel: Going back to that total pain again, making sure that we're incorporating that longitudinally. Dr Creutzfeldt: I think there are currently 94 million people worldwide living with the aftermath of a stroke. I joined a stroke survivor support group recently. People are supporting each other that have that had their stroke, like, 14 years ago and are still in that just to show that this is not one and done. People are still struggling with symptoms afterwards and want support. Dr Nevel: Before we close out, is there anything else that you'd like to add? Dr Creutzfeldt: Your questions have all been great, and I think one observation is that we've talked a lot about, sort of, new ideas of the need for longitudinal care for patients after severe stroke. There's still a ton for all of us to do to optimize the care we provide in the very acute setting, to optimize the way we communicate in the very acute setting. To make sure we are, for example, providing the same message as our team members and providing truly compassionate goal-concordant care from the time they hit the emergency room throughout. Including time-limited trials, for example. Dr Nevel: Well, thank you so much for chatting with me today about your article on this really important topic. Again, today I've been interviewing Dr Claire Creutzfeldt about her article on neuropalliative care in severe acute brain injury and stroke, which appears in the December 2025 Continuum issue on neuropalliative care. Be sure to check out Continuum Audio episodes from this and other issues. And as always, to our listeners, please check out the article. It's great, highly recommend. And thank you to our listeners for joining us today. And thank you so much, Claire, for sharing your expertise with us today. Dr Creutzfeldt: Thanks for having me. Dr Monteith: This is Dr Teshamae Monteith, Associate Editor of Continuum Audio. If you've enjoyed this episode, you'll love the journal, which is full of in-depth and clinically relevant information important for neurology practitioners. Use the link in the episode notes to learn more and subscribe. AAN members, you can get CME for listening to this interview by completing the evaluation at continpub.com/audioCME. Thank you for listening to Continuum Audio.
Dr. Greg Cooper talks with Drs. Natalia Rost and Behnam Sabayan about the emerging field of preventive neurology, emphasizing the need for neurologists to shift from traditional diagnostic and treatment roles to a more proactive approach that includes prevention and brain health optimization. Read the related article in Neurology®. Disclosures can be found at Neurology.org.
In part five of this seven-part series on FND, Dr. Jon Stone and Dr. Gabriela Gilmour discuss treatment options. Show citation: Gilmour, G.S., Nielsen, G., Teodoro, T. et al. Management of functional neurological disorder. J Neurol 267, 2164–2172 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-020-09772-w Gilmour GS, Langer LK, Bhatt H, MacGillivray L, Lidstone SC. Factors Influencing Triage to Rehabilitation in Functional Movement Disorder. Mov Disord Clin Pract. 2024;11(5):515-525. doi:10.1002/mdc3.14007 Stone J, Carson A. Multidisciplinary Treatment for Functional Movement Disorder. Continuum (Minneap Minn). 2025;31(4):1182-1196. doi:10.1212/cont.0000000000001606 Tolchin B, Goldstein LH, Reuber M, et al. Management of Functional Seizures Practice Guideline Executive Summary: Report of the AAN Guidelines Subcommittee. Neurology. 2026;106(1):e214466. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000214466 Show transcript: Dr. Jon Stone: Hello, this is Jon Stone with the Neurology Minute. Gabriela Gilmour and I are back to continue with part five of our seven-part series on FND. Today we'll be discussing treatment. Gabriela, talk us through what the rehabilitation or therapy approaches exist for FND now. Dr. Gabriela Gilmour: I would start actually even before jumping into rehabilitation and therapy to again emphasize something that we talked about in the last episode, which is that rehabilitation very much starts at our first visits with our patients when we examine for positive signs and show these to our patients and explain what they mean. So education about FND is really a fundamental treatment step, and I think we as neurologists have so much to offer to our patients in these visits. Next, when we're thinking about rehabilitation for FND, this often includes some combination of physical rehabilitation and psychological therapy and really should be individualized to each patient. So multidisciplinary or integrated therapy approaches are the gold standard and treatment strategies with these are really guided by our evolving understanding of the mechanisms of FND. So for example, this means using strategies like distraction, motor visualization, relaxation and mindfulness to target that underlying mechanism of FND. And then we use psychological therapies to also address perpetuating factors. So as we have discussed in this series, patients often experience many symptoms. So we also want to think about those other symptoms in our treatment plan, whether that be chronic pain or sleep disturbance or treating comorbid psychiatric or neurological illness. When we think about the subtypes of FND, there is some research into specific strategies for each. So psychotherapy, in particular, cognitive behavioral therapy is the focus for functional dissociative seizures with strategies aimed at attack prevention. Whereas for functional movement disorder, motor retraining physiotherapy has the most evidence. One big thing that I want to emphasize though is that rehabilitation for FND really relies on patient self-management and patient engagement. So I often explain to my patients that I can't retrain their brain, but I can help support them in this process and doing this for themselves. Dr. Jon Stone: So when you meet a patient with FND, how do you decide whether therapy is going to be helpful for them? I think people often have a tendency to say, "Oh, it's FND right off you go to psychotherapy or physiotherapy," but is that always the right option? How should we try and help our patients to decide if it's the right time for them to do these treatments? Dr. Gabriela Gilmour: Yeah, I think that that's something that's really maybe not unique, but something that's really important to FND and to treatment planning and FND. When we're supporting our patients as they embark on a treatment pathway, we really want to set them up for success. And so this really does rely on a robust triage process. So unlike other neurological conditions where you have X disease, therefore, why is the treatment? For FND, we've got a host of different types of treatments, and we want to individualize that and we want to time it right. Fundamentally, we really want to select the right treatment for our patients, and that relies on us understanding what symptoms are most bothersome to our patients, and we want to then provide that treatment at the right time. And I think right time is really what I would emphasize as being so, so important. So this means that patients are ready for active participation and rehabilitation, they're enthusiastically opted in. They think that treatment's going to help, and there aren't major barriers that are going to impact their ability to participate fully, so things like severe pain that could get in the way. And this is a conversation that I have really openly with my patients, and I really try to let them guide the timing. They will let me know, "Hey, I'm a teacher, and I'm in school right now. Now is not the right time for me to embark on this, but what about in June or July?" And then we revisit and regroup at that time. So really I do let my patients guide this process, but I would say that there are a subset of patients that don't need these more advanced rehabilitation type programs. Maybe are spontaneously improved or are able to implement some of their own self-management strategies on their own and have a significant improvement in symptoms already. Dr. Jon Stone: We need to make it easy for our patients to tell us when it's not the right time, but also, there's no one-size-fits-all, basically. Dr. Gabriela Gilmour: Absolutely. Dr. Jon Stone: So we'll be back for more Neurology Minute to continue our discussion on FND. We'll be talking about prognosis. Thanks for listening.
What is a call? How does a person know if God is calling them to mission service? Join in a discussion as these and other questions are addressed.
This podcast is brought to you by Outcomes Rocket, your exclusive healthcare marketing agency. Learn how to accelerate your growth by going to outcomesrocket.com Recognizing that life has an expiration date makes both medicine and risk-taking more meaningful, and that insight runs through this entire conversation. In this episode, Dr. Orvil Martinez, CEO of the Advanced Medical Research Center, and Dr. Felix Rivera, owner of US Neurology Consulting, discuss how their Puerto Rican roots, love of adventure, and passion for technology influence their medical practice and vision for the future of healthcare. They share wild stories of skydiving from airplane wings, bungee jumping over concrete, and near-fatal injuries, set against the backdrop of their lives as thoughtful clinicians, parents, and technophiles. The conversation then turns to AI's potential to ease primary care burdens in Puerto Rico, support tele-neurology, reduce overhead, and sustain independent practice. They close by unveiling plans for the island's first AI Congress in November 2026, underscoring that innovation, trust, and accepting mortality are essential to living fully. Tune in and learn how personal risk, family roots, and bold AI vision are converging to reshape care in Puerto Rico and beyond! Resources Connect with and follow Dr. Orvil Martinez on LinkedIn. Visit the Advanced Medical Research Center website. Follow and connect with Dr. Felix Rivera on LinkedIn.
Dr. Zohaib Siddiqi talks with Dr. Catarina Bernardes about a case involving a 35-year-old woman presenting with personality changes and gait impairment. Read the related Resident & Fellow Section article in Neurology®. Disclosures can be found at Neurology.org.
For decades, Alzheimer's research has focused on clearing amyloid plaques from the brain. But new drugs that successfully remove plaques have proven clinically "underwhelming", leaving the field searching for alternative approaches.Stanford neurologist Katrin Andreasson has spent twenty years pursuing a different path—investigating how aging triggers an energy crisis in the brain's immune and support cells. Her work reveals that inflammation and metabolic dysfunction in microglia and astrocytes may be the real drivers of Alzheimer's pathology. Most remarkably, her recent research—supported by the Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience here at the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute—shows that targeting inflammation in the peripheral immune system—outside the brain entirely—can restore memory in mouse models of the disease. While human trials are still needed, Andreasson's findings offer fresh hope and demonstrate the critical importance of supporting curiosity-driven science, even when it challenges prevailing dogma.Learn More:Alzheimer's Association honors Katrin AndreassonResearch links age-related inflammation, microglia and Alzheimer's DiseaseQ&A: How the aging immune system impacts brain healthRethinking Alzheimer's: Could it begin outside the brain?Why new Alzheimer's drugs may not work for patientsParkinson's comes in many forms. New biomarkers may explain why.Send us a text!Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying our show, please take a moment to give us a review on your podcast app of choice and share this episode with your friends. That's how we grow as a show and bring the stories of the frontiers of neuroscience to a wider audience. We want to hear from your neurons! Email us at at neuronspodcast@stanford.edu Learn more about the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
On Episode 59 of the Stroke Alert Podcast, host Dr. Negar Asdaghi is joined by Dr. Eva Mistry, Stroke Associate Editor and Vice Chair of Research and Divisional Director of Vascular Neurology at the Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Cincinnati, for the 2025 Ralph Sacco Review of Top Cerebrovascular Research. In honor of the late Dr. Ralph L. Sacco, former Editor-in-Chief of Stroke, who died in January 2023, Drs. Asdaghi and Mistry review some of the top cerebrovascular science published in any journal or presented at any scientific forum throughout the past year. For the episode transcript, visit: https://www.ahajournals.org/do/10.1161/podcast.20251216.704704
estudio publicado en la revista Neurology indica que comer más queso, crema o leche agria con alto contenido de grasa se puede asociar con un menor riesgo de desarrollar demencia. El análisis se basa en datos de 30.000 personas y rebate la creencia científica anterior de que una dieta baja en grasas podría tener un efecto protector frente a la demencia. Sin embrago, las conclusiones son muy grandilocuentes y se trata de un estudio observacional que no demuestra causalidad.
In the hospital setting, neurologists may be responsible for managing common end-of-life symptoms. Comprehensive end-of-life care integrates knowledge of the biomedical aspects of disease with patients' values and preferences for care; psychosocial, cultural, and spiritual needs; and support for patients and their families. In this episode, Teshamae Monteith, MD, FAAN, speaks with Claudia Z. Chou, MD, author of the article "End-of-Life Care and Hospice" in the Continuum® December 2025 Neuropalliative Care issue. Dr. Monteith is the associate editor of Continuum® Audio and an associate professor of clinical neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami, Florida. Dr. Knox is an assistant professor of neurology and a consultant in the Division of Community Internal Medicine, Geriatrics and Palliative Care at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Additional Resources Read the article: End-of-Life Care and Hospice Subscribe to Continuum®: shop.lww.com/Continuum Earn CME (available only to AAN members): continpub.com/AudioCME Continuum® Aloud (verbatim audio-book style recordings of articles available only to Continuum® subscribers): continpub.com/Aloud More about the American Academy of Neurology: aan.com Social Media facebook.com/continuumcme @ContinuumAAN Host: @headacheMD Full episode transcript available here Dr Jones: This is Dr Lyell Jones, Editor-in-Chief of Continuum. Thank you for listening to Continuum Audio. Be sure to visit the links in the episode notes for information about earning CME, subscribing to the journal, and exclusive access to interviews not featured on the podcast. Dr Monteith: This is Dr Teshamae Monteith. Today I'm interviewing Dr Claudia Chou about her article on end-of-life care and hospice, which is found in the December 2025 Continuum issue on neuropalliative care. Welcome to our podcast. How are you? Dr Chou: I'm doing well. Thank you for having me. This is really exciting to be here. Dr Monteith: Absolutely. So, why don't you introduce yourself to our audience? Dr Chou: Sure. My name is Claudia Chou. I am a full time hospice and palliative medicine physician at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. I'm trained in neurology, movement disorders, and hospice and palliative medicine. I'm also passionate about education, and I'm the program director for the Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellowship here. Dr Monteith: Cool. So just learning about your training, I kind of have an idea of how you got into this work, but why don't you tell me what inspired you to get into this area? Dr Chou: It was chance, actually. And really just good luck, being in the right place at the right time. I was in my residency and felt like I was missing something in my training. I was seeing these patients who were suffering strokes and had acute decline in functional status. We were seeing patients with new diagnosis of glioblastoma and knowing what that future looked like for them. And while I went into neurology because of a love of neuroscience, localizing the lesion, all of those things that we all love about neurology, I still felt like I didn't have the skill set to serve patients where they perhaps needed me the most in those difficult times where they were dealing with serious illness and functional decline. And so, the serendipitous thing was that I saw a grand rounds presentation by someone who works in neurology and palliative care for people with Parkinson's disease. And truly, it's not an exaggeration to say that by the end of that lecture, I said, I need to do palliative care, I need to rotate in this, I need to learn more. I think this is what I've been missing. And I had plans to practice both movement disorders neurology and palliative care, but I finished training in 2020… and that was not a long time ago. We can think of all the things that were going on, all the different global forces that were influencing our day-to-day decisions. And the way things worked out, staying in palliative care was really what my family and I needed. Dr Monteith: Wow, so that's really interesting. Must have been a great lecturer. Dr Chou: Yes, like one of the best. Dr Monteith: So why don't you tell me about the objectives of your article? Dr Chou: The objectives may be to fill in some of the gaps in knowledge that may be present for the general neurologist. We learn so much in neurology training, so much about how to diagnose and treat diseases, and I think I would argue that this really is part and parcel of all we should be doing. We are the experts in these diseases, and just because we're shifting to end-of-life or transitioning to a different type of care doesn't mean that we back out of someone's care entirely or transition over to a hospice or palliative care expert. It is part of our job to be there and guide patients and their care partners through this next phase. You know, I'm not saying we all need to be hospice and palliative care experts, but we need to be able to take those first steps with patients and their care partners. And so, I think objectives are really to focus in on, what are those core pieces of knowledge for end-of-life care and understanding hospice so we can take those first steps with patients and their care partners? Dr Monteith: So, why don't you give us some of those essential points in your article? Dr Chou: Yeah. In one section of the article, I talk about common symptoms that someone might experience at the end of life and how we might manage those. These days, a lot of hospitals have order sets that talk us through those symptoms. We can check things off of a drop-down menu. And yet I think there's a little bit more nuance to that. There may be situations in which we would choose one medication over another. There may be medications that we've never really thought of in terms of symptom management before. Something that I learned in my hospice and palliative medicine fellowship was that haloperidol can be helpful for nausea. I know that's usually not one of our go-tos in neurology for any number of reasons. So, I think that extra knowledge can take us pretty far when we're managing end of life symptoms, particularly in the hospital setting. And then I think the other component is the hospice component. A lot of us may have not had experience talking about hospice, talking about what hospice can provide, and again, knowing how to take those first steps with patients. We may be referring to social work or palliative medicine to start those conversations. But again, I think this is something that's definitely learnable and something that should be part of our skill set in neurology. Dr Monteith: Great. And so, when you speak about symptom management and being more comfortable with the tools that we have, how can we be more efficient and more effective at that? Dr Chou: Think about what the common symptoms are at end of life. We may know this kind of intuitively, but what we commonly see are things like pain, nausea, dyspnea, anxiety, delirium or agitation. And so, I think having a little bit of a checklist in mind can be helpful. You know, how can I systematically think through a differential, almost, for why my patient might be uncomfortable? Why they might be restless? Have I thought through these different symptoms? Can I try a medication from my tool kit? See if that works, and if it does, we can continue on. If not, what's the next thing that I can pivot to? So, I think these are common skills for a little bit of a differential diagnosis, if you will, and how to work through these problems just with the end-of-life lens on it. Dr Monteith: So, are there any, like, validated tools or checklists that are freely available? Dr Chou: I don't think there's been anything particularly validated for end-of-life care in neurologic disease. And so, a lot of our treatments and our approaches are empiric, but I don't think there's been anything validated, per se. Dr Monteith: Great. So, why don't we talk a little bit about the approach to discussions on hospice? We all, as you kind of alluded to, want to be effective neurologists, care for our patients, but we sometimes deal with very debilitating diseases. And so, when we think that or suspect that our patient is kind of terminally ill, how do we approach that to our patients? Of course, our patients come from different backgrounds, different experiences. So, what is your approach? Dr Chou: So, when we talk about hospice and when a patient may be appropriate for hospice, we have to acknowledge that we think that they may be in the last six months of their disease. We as the neurologist are the experts in their disease and the best ones to weigh in on that prognosis. The patient and their care partners then have to accept that the type of care that hospice provides is what makes sense for them. Hospice focuses on comfort and treating a patient's comfort as the primary goal. Hospice is not as interested in treating cancer, say, to prolong life. Hospice is not as interested in life-prolonging measures and treatments that are not focused at comfort and quality of life. And so, when we have that alignment between our understanding of a patient's disease and their prognosis and the patient care partner's goal is to focus on comfort and quality of life above all else, that's when we have a patient who might be appropriate for hospice and ready to hear more about what that actually entails. Dr Monteith: And what are some, maybe, myths that neurologist healthcare professionals may have about hospice that you really want us to kind of have some clarity on? Dr Chou: That's a great question. What we often tell patients is that hospice's goal is to help patients live as well as possible in the time that they have left. Again, our primary objective is not life prolongation, but quality of life. Hospice's goal is also not to speed up or slow down the natural dying process. Sometimes we do get questions about that: can't you make this go faster or we're ready for the end. But really, we are there to help patients along the natural journey that their body is taking them on. And I think hospice care can actually be complex. In the inpatient setting, in particular in neurology, we may be seeing patients who have suffered large strokes and have perhaps only days to a few weeks of life left. But in the outpatient setting and in the home hospice setting, patients can be on hospice for many months, and so they will have new care needs, new urinary tract infections, sometimes new rashes, the need to change their insulin regimens around to avoid extremes of hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia. So, there is a lot of complexity in that care and a lot that can be wrapped up under that quality-of-life and comfort umbrella. Dr Monteith: And to get someone to hospice requires a bit of prognostication, right? Six months of prediction in terms of a terminal illness. I know there's some nuances to that. So how can you make us feel more comfortable about making the recommendations for hospice? Dr Chou: I think this is a big challenge in the field. We're normally guided by Medicare guidelines that say when a patient might be hospice-appropriate. And so, for a neurologic disease, this really only encompasses four conditions: ALS, stroke, coma, and Alzheimer's dementia. And we can think of all the other diseases that are not encompassed in those four. And so, I think we say that we paint the picture of what it means to have a prognosis of six months or less. So, from the neurologic side, that can be, what do you know about this disease and what end-stage might look like? What is the pattern of the patient's functional decline? What are they needing more help with? Are there other factors at play such as heart failure or COPD that may in and of themselves not be a qualifying diagnosis for hospice, but when it's taken together in the whole clinical picture, you have a patient who's very ill and one that you're worried may die in the next six months or less? Dr Monteith: Then you also had some nice charts on kind of disease-specific guidelines. Can you take us a little bit through that? Dr Chou: The article does contain tables about specific criteria that may qualify someone for hospice with these neurologic conditions. And they are pretty dense. I know they're a checklist of a lot of different things. And so, how we practice is by trying to refer patients to hospice based on those guidelines as much as possible and then using our own clinical judgment as well, what we have seen through taking care of patients through the years. So, again, really going back to that decline. What is making you feel uncomfortable about this patient's prognosis? What is making you feel like, gosh, this patient could be well supported by hospice, and they could have six months or less? So, all of that should go into your decision as well. And all of that should go into your discussion with the patient and their care partners. Dr Monteith: Yeah. And reading your article, what stood out was all the services that patients can receive under hospice. So, I think sometimes people think, okay, this is terminal illness, let's get to hospice for whatever reasons, but not necessarily all the lists and lists and lists of benefits of hospice. So, I don't know that everyone's aware of all those benefits. So, can you talk to us a little bit about that? Dr Chou: Yeah, I like that you brought that up because that's also something that I often say to patients and their care partners when we're talking about hospice. When the time is right for a patient to enroll in hospice, they should not feel like they're giving anything up. There should be no more clinical trial that they're hoping to chase down, and so they should just feel like they're gaining all of those good supports: care that comes to their home, a team that knows them well, someone that's available twenty-four hours a day by phone and can actually even come into the home setting if needed to help with symptom management. Hospice comes as well with the psychosocial supports for just coping with what dying looks like. We know that's not easy to be thinking about dying for oneself, or for a family member or care partner to be losing their loved one. So, all of those supports are built into hospice. I did want to make a distinction, too, that hospice does not provide custodial care, which I explain to patients as care of the body, those daily needs for bathing, dressing, eating, etc. Sometimes patients are interested in hospice because they're needing more help at home, and I have to tell them that unfortunately, our healthcare system is not built for that. And if that's the sole reason that someone is interested in hospice, we have to think about a different approach, because that is not part of the hospice benefit. Dr Monteith: Thank you for that. And then I learned about concurrent care. So why don't you tell us a little bit about that? That's a little bit of a nuance, right? Dr Chou: Yeah, that is a little bit of a nuance. And so, typically when patients are enrolling in hospice, they are transitioning from care the way that it's normally conducted in our healthcare system. So, outpatient visits to all of the specialists and to their primary care providers, the chance to go to the ER or the ICU for higher levels of care. And yet there are a subset of patients who can still have all of those cares alongside hospice care. That really applies to two specific populations: veterans who are receiving care through the Veterans Administration, and then younger patients, so twenty six years old and less, can receive that care through, essentially, a pediatric carve out. Dr Monteith: Great. Well, I mean, you gave so much information in your article, so our listeners are going to have to read it. I don't want you to spill everything, but if you can just kind of give me a sense what you want a neurologist to take away from your article, I think that would be helpful. Dr Chou: I think what I want neurologist to take away is that, again, this is something that is part of what we do as neurologists. This is part of our skill set, and this is part of what it means to take good care of patients. I think what we do in this transition period from kind of usual cares, diagnosis, full treatment to end of life, really can have impact on patients and their care partners. It's not uncommon for me to hear from family members who have had another loved one go through hospice about how that experience was positive or negative. And so, we can think about the influence for years to come, even, because of how well we can handle these transitions. That really can be more than the patient in front of us in their journey. That is really important, but it can also have wide-reaching implications beyond that. Dr Monteith: Excellent. And I know we were talking earlier a little bit about your excitement with the field and where it's going. So why don't you share some of that excitement? Dr Chou: Yeah. And so, I think there is a lot still to come in the field of neuropalliative care, particularly from an evidence base. I know we talked a lot about the soft skills, about presence and communication, but we are clinicians at heart, and we need to practice from an evidence base. I know that's been harder in palliative care, but we have some international work groups that really are trying to come together, see what our approaches look like, see where standardization may need to happen or where our differences are actually our strength. I think there can be a lot of variability in what palliative care looks like. So, my hope is that evidence base is coming through these collaborations. I know it's hard to have a conversation these days without talking about artificial intelligence, but that is certainly a hope. When you look at morbidity, when you look at patients with these complicated disease courses, what is pointing you in the direction of, again, a prognosis of six months or less or a patient who may do better with this disease versus not? And so, I think there's a lot to come from the artificial intelligence and big data realm. For the trainees listening out there, there is no better time to be excited about neuropalliative care and to be thinking about neuropalliative care. I said that I stumbled upon this field, and hopefully someone is inspired as well by listening to these podcasts and reading Continuum to know what this field is really about. And so, it's been exponential growth since I joined this field. We have medical students now who want to come into neuropalliative care as a profession. We have clinicians who are directors of neuropalliative care at their institutions. We have an international neuropalliative care society and neuropalliative care at AAN. And I think we are moving closer to that dream for all of us, which is that patients living with serious neurologic illness can be supported throughout that journey. High-quality, evidence-based palliative care. We're not there yet, but I think it is a possibility that we reach that in my lifetime. Dr Monteith: Well, excellent. I look forward to maybe another revision of this article with some of that work incorporated. And it's been wonderful to talk to you and to reflect on how better to approach patients that are towards the end of life and to help them with that decision-making process. Thank you so much. Dr Chou: Yeah, thank you for having me. And we're very excited about this issue. Dr Monteith: Today. I've been interviewing Dr Claudia Chou about her article on end-of-life care and hospice, which is found in the December 2025 Continuum issue on neuropalliative care. Be sure to check out Continuum Audio episodes from this and other issues, and thank you to our listeners for joining today. Dr Monteith: This is Dr Teshamae Monteith, Associate Editor of Continuum Audio. If you've enjoyed this episode, you'll love the journal, which is full of in-depth and clinically relevant information important for neurology practitioners. Use the link in the episode notes to learn more and subscribe. AAN members, you can get CME for listening to this interview by completing the evaluation at continpub.com/audioCME. Thank you for listening to Continuum Audio.
Some aging-related changes can be hidden. Danny Wang, professor of neurology, radiology, and biomedical engineering and Director of Imaging Technology Innovation at the Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute at the University of Southern California, examines these. Dr. Danny JJ Wang is a Professor of Neurology, Radiology and Biomedical Engineering, and Director of Imaging Technology Innovation […]
Today's guest is Edmund Ben-Ami, CEO of NeuraLight — the company using AI and a simple webcam to radically improve how neurological diseases are measured.NeuraLight's eye-tracking technology is already being deployed in clinical trials, where it has shown the ability to be up to 10× more sensitive than existing neurological assessment tools.In this conversation, we explore how AI-driven biomarkers are reshaping neurology, the realities of working with pharma and clinical trial teams, and what it takes to build and scale a scientifically rigorous healthtech company.This episode is a deep dive into where AI meets neuroscience, and why better data could change patient outcomes at scale.
Episode description: We continue our campaign to #EndNeurophobia, with the help of Dr. Aaron Berkowitz. This time, Sarah presents a case to Sebastian and Vijay. Sarah Blaine (@sarahkblaine) Sarah Blaine is an MD/MSc student at Emory University School of Medicine applying into neurology residency. She isfrom SouthernCalifornia and went to UC Berkeley for her undergraduate… Read More »Episode 435: Neurology VMR – Weakness and numbness
Overview This special episode of the [Tick Boot Camp Podcast](https://tickbootcamp.com/podcast/) was recorded live at the 2nd Annual Alzheimer's Pathobiome Initiative (AlzPI) and PCOM Symposium in collaboration with Pathobiome Perspectives. Hosted by Ali Moresco in partnership with Nikki Schultek, Executive Director of AlzPI, the conversation continues the Tick Boot Camp mission of exploring infection-associated chronic illness (IACI)—including Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections—within the global Alzheimer's and neuroimmunology research community. Tick Boot Camp co-founders Matt Sabatello and Rich Johannesen partnered with Ali and Nikki to highlight leading scientists connecting microbes, immune dysregulation, and neurodegenerative disease. This episode features Dr. Elizabeth “Betsy” Bradshaw, Assistant Professor of Neurology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, whose research investigates how past infections leave lasting imprints on the brain's immune system and influence the development of Alzheimer's disease. Guest Elizabeth M. Bradshaw, PhD Assistant Professor of Neurology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center Principal Investigator, Bradshaw Laboratory – Neuroimmunology and Genetics of Alzheimer's Dr. Bradshaw's laboratory focuses on the immune system's role in neurodegeneration, particularly how infection and inflammation alter brain immunity and predispose individuals to conditions like Alzheimer's disease. Her work builds on large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) that identified immune-related genetic variants linked to Alzheimer's susceptibility, suggesting that subtle changes in immune function—not just neuronal factors—may underlie disease onset. Her team is exploring how pathogens such as HSV-1 (Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1) interact with the brain's immune cells, known as microglia, and how these infections can “reprogram” immune responses long after the pathogen is cleared. Key Discussion Points Dr. Bradshaw explains how her research bridges genetics, immunology, and infectious disease to better understand Alzheimer's. Through GWAS data, her team found that many of the genes linked to Alzheimer's risk involve immune pathways rather than neuronal signaling. This discovery redirected the field's attention toward how immune cells respond to pathogens and environmental stressors across a lifetime. Using human-derived microglia-like cells created from blood monocytes, her team observes how infections reshape immune cell metabolism and memory. By infecting these microglia-like cells with Alzheimer's-associated pathogens like HSV-1, they study how genetic background and infection history determine immune cell behavior. The findings suggest that past infections may epigenetically and metabolically train microglia—changing how they respond to aging, stress, and amyloid buildup. Even when the infection has resolved, these “reprogrammed” immune cells can remain altered for decades, silently increasing the brain's vulnerability to neurodegeneration. Dr. Bradshaw emphasizes that understanding how infections rewire the brain's immune landscape could transform early intervention strategies. Identifying combinations of genetic risk factors and pathogen exposures may enable targeted prevention or immune-modulating treatments long before symptoms appear. “Microglia remember. Even after the pathogen is gone, they carry its imprint—responding differently decades later when the brain faces new challenges.” — Dr. Elizabeth Bradshaw Why It Matters Dr. Bradshaw's work reframes Alzheimer's disease as a neuroimmune condition shaped by infection and host genetics. Her research highlights how microbial exposures, immune history, and inflammation converge to influence cognitive decline. By integrating infection biology with genetics and immunology, her team is redefining how scientists and clinicians view the root causes of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases. This work strengthens the growing case that the immune system's “memory” of infection may be one of the most important and overlooked factors in brain health and aging. About the Event This interview was recorded at the 2nd Annual Alzheimer's Pathobiome Initiative (AlzPI) and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) Symposium, held October 3, 2025, at Ohio University in Dublin, Ohio. The event brought together more than 20 leading researchers exploring how microbes, the microbiome, and immune dysregulation contribute to Alzheimer's, dementia, and infection-associated chronic illness (IACI). Tick Boot Camp partnered with Ali Moresco and Nikki Schultek to share these conversations and connect chronic Lyme, infection, and neurodegenerative research communities. Learn More Learn more about the Alzheimer's Pathobiome Initiative (AlzPI) Listen to Tick Boot Camp Podcast episodes, including Episode 406: Pathobiome – An Interview with Nikki Schultek and Episode 101: The Young Gun – An Interview with Alex (Ali) Moresco discussed in this interview.
Click here to send me a quick message :) So many of us live with some form of chronic or acute pain. We get used to it, we look for ways to relieve it, we may find some things that work - temporarily or long term. Sometimes that's movement practices, sometimes it's bodywork, sometimes it's structural adjustments, etc. But more often than not, we're not actually looking to the root of the pain. And unfortunately if it's connective tissue or bone-based, it can often be exacerbated in transitional times like postpartum or perimenopause / post-menopause.After many years of offering Structural Integration style bodywork, Mia Esquivel found that for both her own post-menopausal body and for her clients, she wasn't seeing the relief she knew could be possible.So she started seeking solutions outside of her bodywork box and came upon something called "Applied Neurology" and it has been a GAME CHANGER for herself and her clients.Listen in to hear all about it (and a little on her perimenopause and post-menopause story - hint: you might never guess that foot pain could be related to hormonal shifts!).Resources:Today's shownotes: Get links to Mia's offerings Free guide: 10 Key Herbs for Your Hormonal HealthEpisode 110: Healing chronic pelvic pain w Julia DyerEpisode 169: From a year of debilitating endo pain to feeling well w Mary Lauren FraserIf you loved this episode, share it with a friend, or take a screenshot and share on social media and tag me @herbalwombwisdomAnd if you love this podcast, leave a rating & write a review! It's really helpful to get the show to more amazing humans like you. ❤️DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for educational purposes only, I am not providing any medical advice, I am not a medical practitioner, I'm an herbalist and in the US, there is no path to licensure for herbalists, so my role is as an herbal educator. Please do your own research and consult your healthcare provider for any personal concerns.Support the show
Many people will be familiar with Parkinson's disease: the progressive brain disorder that causes symptoms including tremors and slower movement, leading on to serious cognitive problems. You might not know that it's the fastest-growing neurological condition in the world. Today it affects around 11.8 million people and that's forecast to double by 2030. Dr Sonia Gandhi is one of the scientists working to change that trend. As Professor of Neurology at University College London and Assistant Research Director at the Francis Crick Institute, her work involves using stem cells to build models of the human brain, helping to drive the development of drugs and other therapies for Parkinson's patients. Talking to Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Sonia explains why this destructive condition is on the rise - and the promising routes they're studying to find new ways to tackle it.
In the second part of this two-part series, Dr. Dan Ackerman talks with Drs. Valérie Biousse and Nancy J. Newman about recent clinical trials, the need for collaboration between stroke neurologists and eye care providers, and the role of technology in improving patient outcomes. Read the article referenced in this interview in the Journal of Stroke & Cerebrovascular Diseases. Disclosures can be found at Neurology.org.
In this "ABCs of MOGAD" episode, "Steroid Dependence," Krissy Dilger of SRNA was joined by Dr. Eoin Flanagan from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. They began with a summary of how steroids are used to manage MOG antibody disease, particularly during acute attacks [00:01:25]. Dr. Flanagan described the mechanics of steroids in reducing brain inflammation and the importance of early treatment [00:04:14]. They discussed the concept of steroid dependence and the complications that arise when tapering down the steroid dose [00:05:46]. Dr. Flanagan highlighted alternative treatments to manage steroid dependence and emphasized the importance of working closely with healthcare providers to safely reduce steroid use over time [00:09:42].Eoin Flanagan, MB, BCh is a Professor of Neurology and Consultant in the departments of Neurology and Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN). He completed his medical school training at University College Dublin in Ireland in 2005. He did a medical residency in Ireland and then completed neurology residency, fellowships in neuroimmunology and a master's in clinical and translational science at Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN). He works in the Autoimmune Neurology and Multiple Sclerosis Clinics and the Neuroimmunology Laboratory at the Mayo Clinic.His clinical expertise and research are focused on inflammatory myelopathies and their imaging patterns, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody associated disorder, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders, autoimmune encephalitis, paraneoplastic neurologic disorders, and multiple sclerosis. He is principal investigator on an NIH RO1 grant studying MOG antibody associated disorder.00:00 Introduction01:25 Understanding Steroids in MOG Antibody Disease04:14 Steroid Dosage and Administration05:46 Steroid Dependence in MOGAD Patients09:42 Managing Steroid Dependence14:02 Balancing Inflammation Control and Steroid Risks17:31 Conclusion
Send us a textWhat if artificial intelligence could change how neurological diseases are diagnosed, treated, and even prevented? And how far are we from that future?This week's episode is with returning guest Dr. Aniket Natekar to explore how AI is actively reshaping neurology and modern healthcare. We break down what AI integration could look like in clinical settings, from neurosurgery and diagnostic support to reducing administrative burden, and how physicians are currently utilizing these tools in practice. We also look ahead to what is coming next, including AI-powered wearables, personalized brain-health profiles, earlier detection of epilepsy and neurodegenerative disorders, and tools that could significantly reduce misdiagnosis.Of course, we cannot talk about AI without addressing the ethical concerns and risks. Dr. Natekar tackles the big questions: How will patient data be protected? Could clinicians become too reliant on AI? Who carries responsibility if AI makes a mistake — the doctor, the hospital, or the developer? And what does the rise of AI mean for the already uneven access to neurological care between urban and rural communities?This is a particularly important conversation because AI isn't just a buzzword — it's becoming deeply embedded in healthcare. So understanding the benefits, limitations, and ethical landscape is more crucial than ever, and Dr. Natekar provides such thoughtful, nuanced perspectives to this topic.Don't forget to rate and subscribe to The Neurological Disorder Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Fill out this form ( https://forms.gle/V8ZrX8iwQZnk3xVF9) if you have questions, guest suggestions, or topics you would love to hear about! **everything discussed today reflects our personal opinions and should not be taken as medical advice. Feel free to contact me via:Email: neurologicaldisorderpodcast@gmail.comInstagram: @neurologicaldisorderpodcastContact Dr. Natekar via: Instagram: @anik_skywalker
Join Phillip Kuo, MD, PhD, and Jacob Dubroff, MD, PhD as they delve into discussions about the latest tracers, brain imaging techniques, and advances in patient care. To learn more about advancements in neurology in nuclear medicine, register for the upcoming SNMMI Mid-Winter Meeting with a dedicated neurology track. Register Here: https://snmmi.org/MWM/MWM/Attend/Register.aspx
Why do your migraines always strike right before your period? What if your body is actually trying to tell you something—something that could help you prevent the next one?In this episode of Migraine Heroes Podcast, host Diane Ducarme explores the intricate connection between your menstrual cycle and migraine attacks. Together, we decode what your body is signaling in those fragile days before your period—and how to work with it, not against it.You'll discover:
In part one of this two-part series, Dr. Dan Ackerman talks with Drs. Valérie Biousse and Nancy J. Newman about the clinical presentations, diagnostic challenges, and the importance of accurate diagnosis in managing CRAO and BRAO. Read the article referenced in this interview in the Journal of Stroke & Cerebrovascular Diseases. Disclosures can be found at Neurology.org.
Neurologists are privileged to act as guides for patients as they navigate the complex course of serious neurologic illnesses. Because of the impact on quality of life, personhood, and prognosis, neurologists must be able to conduct serious-illness conversations to improve rapport, reduce patient anxiety and depression, and increase the likelihood that treatment choices agree with patient goals and values. In this episode, Teshamae Monteith, MD, FAAN speaks with Jessica M. Besbris, MD, author of the article "The Approach to Serious-Illness Conversations" in the Continuum® December 2025 Neuropalliative Care issue. Dr. Monteith is the associate editor of Continuum® Audio and an associate professor of clinical neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami, Florida. Dr. Besbris is an assistant professor of neurology and internal medicine, and the director of the neuropalliative care, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. Additional Resources Read the article: The Approach to Serious-Illness Conversations Subscribe to Continuum®: shop.lww.com/Continuum Earn CME (available only to AAN members): continpub.com/AudioCME Continuum® Aloud (verbatim audio-book style recordings of articles available only to Continuum® subscribers): continpub.com/Aloud More about the American Academy of Neurology: aan.com Social Media facebook.com/continuumcme @ContinuumAAN Host: @headacheMD Guest: @JessBesbris Full episode transcript available here Dr Jones: This is Dr Lyell Jones, Editor-in-Chief of Continuum. Thank you for listening to Continuum Audio. Be sure to visit the links in the episode notes for information about earning CME, subscribing to the journal, and exclusive access to interviews not featured on the podcast. Dr Monteith: Hi, this is Dr Teshamae Monteith. Today I'm interviewing Dr Jessica Besbris about her article on the approach to serious illness conversation, which is found in the December 2025 Continuum issue on neuropalliative care. How are you? Dr Besbris: I'm doing great. Thank you so much for having me here today. Dr Monteith: Well, thank you for being on our podcast. Dr Besbris: My pleasure. Dr Monteith: Why don't we start off with you introducing yourself? Dr Besbris: Sure. So, my name is Jessica Besbris. I am a neurologist with fellowship training in palliative care, and I am currently at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where I am the director of our neuropalliative care program. Dr Monteith: Excellent. So, how did you get involved in that? Dr Besbris: Like, I think, many neurologists, I always knew I wanted to be a neurologist---or, I should say, from the moment I decided to be a doctor I knew that that was the type of doctor I wanted to be, a neurologist. So, I went into medical school with the aim of becoming a neurologist. And very quickly, when I started my clinical years, I was exposed to patients who were living with very serious illnesses. And I found myself really drawn to opportunities to help, opportunities to make people feel better, opportunities to improve quality of life in situations that on the face of it seemed really challenging, where maybe it seemed like our usual treatments were not necessarily the answer or were not the only answer. And so, I pretty quickly recognized that taking care of patients with serious illness was going to be a big part of my life as a neurologist and that palliative care was the way I wanted to help these patients and families. Dr Monteith: And you mentioned you're leading the group. So, how many colleagues do you have in the program? Dr Besbris: We have a very large palliative care group, but within neuropalliative care, it's myself and one other physician, a nurse practitioner, and a social worker. Dr Monteith: Okay, well, I know you guys are busy. Dr Besbris: Yes, we are very happy to be busy. Dr Monteith: Yes. So, let's talk about the objectives of your article. Dr Besbris: Sure. So, the goal of this article is to impress upon neurologists that it really is all of our jobs as neurologists to be having these conversations with our patients who are affected with serious illness. And then, in most areas of neurology, these conversations will come up. Whether it's giving a life changing diagnosis, or talking about treatment choices, or treatment not going the way that we had hoped, or even sometimes progression of disease or end-of-life care. These topics will come up for most of us in neurology, and really, we're hoping that this article not only makes the case that neurologists can and should be having these conversations, but that there are skills that we can teach in this article and with other resources to improve the skill level and sense of confidence that neurologists have when they enter into these conversations. Dr Monteith: Great. I read that there are some developments in the field, on organizational levels, about really making these skills part of standard of care in terms of education. So, can you speak to that? Dr Besbris: Yes. So, there have been a couple of really landmark papers and changes in the educational landscape that I think have really brought neuropalliative care in general, and serious illness conversation in particular, to the forefront. So, there were the position statements released by the American Academy of Neurology in 1996 and 2022, both of which really said, hey, all neurologists should be doing this and receive training on how to have these conversations and provide this care. And the ACGME, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, also requires neurology residency programs to learn how to communicate with patients and families, assess goals, and talk about end-of-life care. So, there's a real structural imperative now for neurologists to learn early on how to have serious illness conversations with their patients. Dr Monteith: Great. If there's anything for our listeners to get out of this conversation, what are the essential points? Dr Besbris: If you only take away one or two things from this conversation, I hope that they're that this is an awesome responsibility to be in a moment with a patient going through something challenging, to meet them in that moment with thoughtful, honest, empathic conversations about who they are and what's important to them. And that, just like any other procedure, these are skills that can be taught so that you can feel really confident and comfortable being in these moments. Dr Monteith: Excellent. Wow. Okay, I feel your energy and your empathy already. And so, why don't we just talk about skills? What is the best way to deliver tough news? I read this wonderful chart on SPIKES protocol. Dr Besbris: Yeah, the SPIKES protocol is one really well-known way to deliver serious news. And what's nice about SPIKES is it gives a mnemonic. And as neurology learners, we all love a good mnemonic to help you really center yourself when you're entering into these conversations so that you have a structured format to follow, just like with any procedure. So, the SPIKES protocol stands for Setting: so, making sure you have the right environment; Perception, or assessing what your patient or surrogate decision maker knows already so that you know where to begin; receiving an Invitation to deliver serious news. And then K stands for Knowledge, delivering in a clear and concise way the information that you want to make sure the family or patient walk away with. E for exploring Emotion; and S for really Summarizing what's been discussed and Strategizing on next steps. I think that having these kinds of conversations, it's just like being expert in anything. When you first start learning, it's helpful to have a set of very concrete steps you can follow. And you might even think through the mnemonic as you get ready to walk into that room. And as you become more expert, the flow becomes more natural. And maybe what you do before walking in to prepare is just honing what is that headline? What is that concise statement that I'm really going to give? And the rest may start to feel more natural and less protocolized. Dr Monteith: And there are a few other mnemonics. There's the NURSE mnemonic, which I like. You know, there's a balance between saying things and sounding kind of… you know, sometimes they're like, well, how could you understand what I'm going through? Have you been through something like this? And people shy away, and they're afraid to kind of be a part of these conversations. So how do we approach that with this, a NURSE mnemonic in a way that's kind of sincere? Dr Besbris: Absolutely. So, the NURSE mnemonic, unlike SPIKES, is not a step-by-step protocol. So, NURSE is a mnemonic, but you don't go through each letter and sort of give a naming statement and then an understanding statement and then a respecting statement and so on. Nurse is really a toolkit of different types of statements that we can give in response to emotions so that when you find yourself in a situation where a patient or family member is tearful, is scared, is angry, is expressing feelings, you have some phrases ready that feel authentic to you and that you feel are going to meet the moment and allow you to empathically respond to those emotions. Because until we do that, we really can't move further in this conversation with our patients and families feeling heard and respected. So, that NURSE mnemonic, those Naming, Understanding, Respecting, Supporting and Exploring statements, are really examples of statements that we can use to meet that moment with empathy and understanding and without implying that we have walked in their shoes. We want to avoid being presumptuous and really focus on just being present and empathic. Dr Monteith: So, let's just kind of run through, I think it's really important. Let's run through some of these examples. Maybe if someone's crying hysterically, how would we respond to that? Dr Besbris: So, this is an opportunity for Naming. And I made this one, I think, in the chart, a little bit obvious, meaning that we recognize when someone is crying that they are feeling probably very sad. This is an opportunity for us to name and thus normalize that emotion. I just think something as simple as, I think anyone would be really sad hearing this. These responses are not intended to fix this emotion. I'm not trying to get someone to stop crying or to, you know, necessarily not feel sad. It's really just to say, yeah, it's normal that you're feeling sad. It's okay. I'm here with you while you're feeling sad. And I'm going to be with you no matter what you're bringing to the table. Dr Monteith: Yeah. Let's go through just a couple of others. I mean, these are really good. Dr Besbris: Sure. Maybe Respecting. Dr Monteith: Yeah. So, my Dad is a fighter. Only God, not doctors, can know the future. Dr Besbris: Yeah. So, I love giving these examples with our learners because these statements, things like my Dad is a fighter or God will bring me a miracle or you don't know the answer. Only God knows what's going to happen, I think that they give a lot of doctors a feeling of confrontation, a feeling of anxiety. And I think there are a few reasons for that. And I think one of the main ones is that they're statements that imply that we as doctors are not all-powerful and it's our patients or families sort of looking for a different locus of control, whether it's internal fortitude or a higher power. They're looking to something other than us, and maybe that makes us feel a little bit uncomfortable. And I think that sometimes physicians think that these statements imply that someone doesn't even understand what's going on. But maybe they're coming to this from a place of denial. And I would argue that when someone comes to you with a statement like my dad is a fighter or, you know, I'm looking to God to bring me a miracle or to show me the future. I think that what they're really saying is, wow, I'm really hearing that things are serious, so much so that I'm reaching for these other resources to give me strength and hope. I don't think anyone asks for a miracle if they think that a miracle is not needed, if the problem is easy to fix. And so, rather than come to these types of statements from a confrontational place of I'm the doctor and I know best, I think this is a great opportunity to show some respect and give some respecting statements. Your dad is a fighter. I don't think he could have come this far without being a fighter. Or, you know, I am so grateful that you have your faith to lean on during times like these to give you strength. These are also nice opportunities for exploring statements. For example, I'm so grateful to learn more about your dad. Can you tell me what it is that he has been fighting for all of this time? Dr Monteith: I love that. It's like a follow-up, and also validating. Dr Besbris: Yeah, it's validating. And it allows us to learn a little bit more about this person and to learn, well, is he fighting for a life that we can still achieve with our interventions to lead into the next part of a conversation? Or, is God is going to bring me a miracle? Well, tell me what a miracle looks like for you. I can't tell you how many times I thought someone was going to tell me that a miracle would be cure. And sometimes that is what comes up. But other times I hear, a miracle would be, you know, my loved one surviving long enough for the rest of the family to gather. And, you know, that is certainly something we can work towards together. Dr Monteith: So, why don't we talk a little bit about approach to goals of care discussions? They are tough, and let's just put it into perspective to the critical care team. It's time, the person's been in the ICU, the family wants everything thrown at medically. And it's to the point that the assessment is that would be medical futility. Dr Besbris: Lots to unpack there. Dr Monteith: I wanted to make it hard for you. Dr Besbris: No, no, this is good! I mean, this is something- I work in a, you know, almost one thousand-bed hospital with a massive critical care building. And so, these are not unusual circumstances at all. First of all, I would just say that goals of care conversations are not only about end-of-life care. And I make that point a few different times in the article because I think when people imagine goals of care, and one of the reasons that I think clinicians may sometimes shy away from goals of care discussions, is that they think they have to be sad, they have to be scary, they have to be about death and dying. And I would argue that, really, goals of care discussions are about understanding who a person is, how they live their life, what's most important to them. Most of these conversations should be about living. How are we going to together achieve a quality of life that is meaningful for you and treatments that are going to fit your needs and your preferences? But there is a little slice of that pie in the pie chart of goals of care discussions that is in the arena of end-of-life care. For example, ICU care with, really, the highest levels of intensity of care, and having to talk about whether that still is meeting the moment from the perspective of goals as well as the perspective of efficacy. So, from the goals standpoint, I approach these conversations just like any other goals of care conversation. Usually at this point, we're speaking to family members and not our patients because in a neurocritical care unit, if someone is that sick, they probably are incapacitated. And so, it's a moment to really sit down with family and say, please tell me about the human being lying in that bed. They can't introduce themselves. What would they tell me about themselves if they could speak right now? What kinds of things were important to them in the course of their treatment? What kind of a life did they want to live or do they want to live? So that then we can reflect on, well, can our treatment achieve that? And this process is called shared decision making. This is really where we take in data from the family, who are experts in the patient, and then our own expertise in the illness and what our treatments can achieve, and then bring all of that information together to make a recommendation that aligns with what we believe is right for a particular patient. So, in the example that you gave, the extreme circumstance where someone is receiving maximal intensive care and we're starting to reach the point of futility, I think that we need to first really understand, well, what does futility mean for this particular patient? Is it that we as healthcare providers would not value living in the state this person is in? Or is it that the treatments truly cannot physiologically keep them alive or meet their stated goals? If it's the first one, that I wouldn't want to be on machines unconscious, you know, at the end of my life, well, I have to set that aside. It's really about what this patient wants. and if the family is telling you they valued every breath, every moment, and if we have care that can achieve that, we should continue to offer and recommend that care. And as healthcare providers, it is so important that we do explain when treatments are not going to be able to physiologically meet a patient's needs or achieve their goals. And that's where we can say, I'm going to continue to do everything I can, for example, to, you know, keep your loved one here for these meaningful moments. And we are at a point where performing CPR would no longer be able to restart his heart. And I just wanted to let you know that that's not something that we're going to do because I have an obligation not to provide painful medical treatments that will not work. So, my approach to futility is really different than my approach to shared decision-making because in the context of objective futility, it's not about necessarily- it's not about decision-making, it's not about shared decision-making as much as it is explaining why something is simply not going to work. Does that make sense? Dr Monteith: Absolutely. And what I love in your article is that, you know, you go beyond the skills, but also potential communication challenges---for example, patients' neurologic status, their ability to understand complex communication, or even cultural differences. So, can you speak about that briefly? Dr Besbris: Absolutely. In the world of neurological serious illness, it is incredibly common for our patients to face challenges in communication. That might be because they are aphasic, because they have a motor speech deficit, it might be because they're intubated, it might be because their capacity is diminished or absent. And so, there are a lot of challenges to keeping patients in these conversations. And in the article, I summarize what those challenges can look like and some strategies that we can use to continue to engage our patients in these conversations to the greatest extent possible and also turn to their surrogate decision makers where the patients themselves are no longer able to participate or participate fully. In terms of cultural considerations, I mean, there could be an entire article or an entire Continuum just on cultural considerations in neurology and in serious illness communication. And so, the key points that I really tried to focus on were exploring from a place of cultural humility what the beliefs and practices of a particular patient and family are in their cultural context, to ask questions to help you understand how those cultural differences may impact the way you approach these conversations. And being sensitive to folks with limited English proficiency, to ensure that we are using medical interpreters whenever possible. Dr Monteith: Excellent. Well, there's so much in the article. There's already so much that we just discussed, but our listeners are going to have to go to the article to get the rest of this. I do want to ask you to just kind of reflect on, you know, all the different cases and experiences that you have, and just, if you can give us a final remark? Dr Besbris: I can think of a number of cases that I've seen in my work as both an inpatient and outpatient neuropalliative provider where I've seen patients after strokes in the hospital with uncertain prognosis, whose families were struggling with a decision around feeding tubes. And where we have made a determination based on goals; for example, to pursue what's called a time-limited trial, to say let's place a feeding tube, let's meet again in the clinic in a few months after some rehab and let's just see, is this meeting this patient 's goals and expectations? I have been pleasantly surprised by the number of patients who have walked into my office after a period of rehabilitation who have regained the ability to eat, who are living an acceptable quality of life, and who have expressed gratitude for the work that I did in eliciting their goals, helping support their families. And some of whom have even come in and said, now that I'm doing better, I'd really like to do an advance directive to better guide my family in the future. People asking for more goals of care discussions, having seen how successful and helpful these conversations have been. Dr Monteith: Great. That's really life-altering for that patient, the family, so many people. Thank you so much for the work you do and for writing this great article and sharing all of this that we really need to learn more about. Dr Besbris: It's been a privilege. Thank you so much for talking with me today. Dr Monteith: Today I've been interviewing Dr Jessica Besbris about her article on the approach to serious illness conversation, which is found in the December 2025 Continuum issue on neuropalliative care. Be sure to check out Continuum Audio episodes from this and other issues. And thank you to our listeners for joining today. Dr Monteith: This is Dr Teshamae Monteith, Associate Editor of Continuum Audio. If you've enjoyed this episode, you'll love the journal, which is full of in-depth and clinically relevant information important for neurology practitioners. Use the link in the episode notes to learn more and subscribe. AAN members, you can get CME for listening to this interview by completing the evaluation at continpub.com/audioCME. Thank you for listening to Continuum Audio.
The Wahls Protocol is a diet that may reduce inflammation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Although these are plausible mechanisms for slowing ALS progression, we discuss the fact that there are no actual data to support this hypothesis, and there are risks which are especially important to consider in people living with ALS.
Dr. Andy Southerland talks with Dr. Seemant Chaturvedi about the highlights from the 17th World Stroke Congress. Learn more on the World Stroke Congress website. Disclosures can be found at Neurology.org.
In the final episode of our five-part series on primary progressive aphasia (PPA), Dr. Rogan Magee discusses bedside testing for PPA. Show citations: Show citations: Grossman M, Seeley WW, Boxer AL, et al. Frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2023;9(1):40. Published 2023 Aug 10. doi:10.1038/s41572-023-00447-0 Gorno-Tempini ML, Hillis AE, Weintraub S, et al. Classification of primary progressive aphasia and its variants. Neurology. 2011;76(11):1006-1014. doi:10.1212/WNL.0b013e31821103e6 Santos-Santos MA, Rabinovici GD, Iaccarino L, et al. Rates of Amyloid Imaging Positivity in Patients With Primary Progressive Aphasia. JAMA Neurol. 2018;75(3):342-352. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2017.4309 Mandelli ML, Lorca-Puls DL, Lukic S, et al. Network anatomy in logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia. Hum Brain Mapp. 2023;44(11):4390-4406. doi:10.1002/hbm.26388 Putcha D, Erkkinen M, Daffner KR. Functional Neurocircuitry of Cognition and Cognitive Syndromes. In: Silbersweig DA, Safar LT, Daffner KR. eds. Neuropsychiatry and behavioral neurology: principles and practice. McGraw Hill; 2021. Accessed November 6, 2025. https://neurology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=3007§ionid=253215676 Montembeault M, Brambati SM, Gorno-Tempini ML, Migliaccio R. Clinical, Anatomical, and Pathological Features in the Three Variants of Primary Progressive Aphasia: A Review. Front Neurol. 2018;9:692. Published 2018 Aug 21. doi:10.3389/fneur.2018.00692 Clark DG. Frontotemporal Dementia. Continuum (Minneap Minn). 2024;30(6):1642-1672. doi:10.1212/CON.0000000000001506
Dr. Alex Menze and Dr. Kristen Dams-O'Connor discuss traumatic encephalopathy syndrome and its relationship with traumatic brain injury. Show Citation: Dams-O'Connor K, Selmanovic E, Pruyser A, et al. Traumatic Encephalopathy Syndrome in the Late Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury (LETBI) Study Cohort. Neurology. 2025;1(2):e000015. doi:10.1212/WN9.0000000000000015
Today's guest is Dr. Jarod Burton. Jarod is a chiropractor and sports performance coach focused on neurology-driven movement. He blends manual therapy, strength modailities, and nervous system training to unlock better mechanics and athletic output. His work centers on identifying and clearing the neural limits that hold athletes back. In training, there are many layers to human performance and athletic outputs. One critical layer is the power transmission of the nervous system, and how to unlock this ability in all athletes. Many athletes naturally have a more adept system, while others may need more bridges to reach their highest levels of performance. In this episode, Jarod speaks on how his approach has evolved since entering clinical practice. He shares how he uses flywheel training to teach rhythm, “the dance” of force, and powerful catches rather than just concentric effort. He and Joel dig into spinal mobility, ribcage expansion, and even breakdance-style spinal waves as underrated keys to athletic freedom. Jarod then simplifies neurology for coaches, explaining how posture reveals brain-side imbalances and how targeted “fast stretch” work, loud/sticky altitude drops, and intelligently high training volumes can rebalance the system and unlock performance. Today's episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength. Use the code “justfly20” for 20% off any Lila Exogen wearable resistance training, including the popular Exogen Calf Sleeves. For this offer, head to Lilateam.com Use code “justfly10” for 10% off the Vert Trainer View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. (https://www.just-fly-sports.com/podcast-home/) Timestamps 0:00 - Jarod's background and early coaching lens6:55 - Internal vs external focus and simple cues13:40 - What good movement feels like20:10 - Speed shapes and improving posture29:18 - Blending strength with elastic qualities41:02 - Breathing mechanics and better movement options52:37 - Pelvis function and creating better positions1:00:15 - Skill acquisition and training that sticks1:11:48 - Programming principles and individual needs1:19:40 - Coaching philosophy and athlete communication Actionable Takeaways 0:00 – Jarod's background, influences, and early coaching lens Jarod draws heavily on mentors in track and field, particularly their ability to teach posture, projection, and simple shapes. He notes that he used to overcoach mechanics and learned that athletes need experiences, not micromanagement. Emphasize principles over preferences. As Jarod says, “If I can teach the principles, the application can change.” 6:55 – Internal versus external focus and simple cues that work Jarod prefers cues that help athletes feel positions instead of thinking about them. He explains that internal cues can work when used to create awareness, but they cannot dominate the session. Use cues that point the athlete toward an outcome. For example, he prefers “push the ground away” instead of detailed joint instructions. 13:40 – What good movement feels like and the problem with forcing technique Jarod warns that coaches often chase “pretty” movement at the cost of effective movement. Technique should emerge from intention, not the other way around. He encourages coaches to give athletes tasks that naturally produce the shapes they want. If an athlete is struggling, simplify the environment rather than stack more verbal instructions. 20:10 – Speed development, posture, and improving shapes without overcoaching Jarod explains that acceleration improves when athletes learn to project rather than lift. Upright running quality comes from rhythm and relaxation, not from forcing tall mechanics. He recommends using contrast tasks to improve posture, such as wall drills combined with short accelerations. Let the environment teach the athlete and save verbal coaching for key errors only. 29:18 – Blending strength training with elastic qualities Jarod sees weight room work as support, not the driver, of speed and skill. He focuses on the elastic properties of tendons and connective tissue for speed athletes. He notes that heavy lifting can coexist with stiffness and elasticity if programmed strategically rather than constantly chased. Use low amplitude hops, bounds, and rhythm-based plyos to balance the traditional strength program. 41:02 – Breathing, ribcage mechanics, and natural movement options Jarod uses breathing work to help athletes find positions that allow better rotation and force transfer. He explains that tight ribcages limit athletic expression, not just breathing capacity. Many athletes struggle with rotation due to rigid breathing patterns, not lack of strength. Use breathing resets before high-speed work to create better movement “access.” 52:37 – Understanding the athletic pelvis and creating better positions Jarod emphasizes that pelvic orientation shapes nearly every aspect of movement. He encourages developing a pelvis that can both yield and create force, instead of being locked in extension or tucked under. Simple low-level movements like hip shifts, step-ups, and gait-primer patterns can transform sprint positions. Train the pelvis in motion, not just through isolated exercises. 1:00:15 – Skill acquisition, variability, and choosing training that sticks Jarod believes athletes need movement options and adaptability, not one perfect model. Variability builds resilience and skill transfer. Too much rigidity in training creates athletes who cannot adapt to chaotic sport environments. Coaches should create tasks that allow athletes to explore rather than follow rigid repetitions. 1:11:48 – Programming principles and adjusting training to the individual Jarod adjusts cycles based on athlete readiness rather than fixed rules. He focuses on how athletes respond to stress rather than the stress itself. Training should follow the athlete's progression of competence and confidence, not arbitrary timelines. He prefers a flexible structure where principles guide but the athlete determines the pace. 1:19:40 – Coaching philosophy, communication, and what athletes need Jarod highlights that coaching is not about showing off knowledge but helping someone move better. He builds trust through communication and clarity rather than overwhelming athletes with science. He believes athletes need environments that reward curiosity and creativity. The coach creates the environment, but the athlete creates the movement. Jarod Burton Quotes “If I can teach the principle, the application can change, and the athlete can adapt.” “Good movement should feel rhythmic and natural, not forced.” “The environment will teach the athlete faster than a paragraph of cues.” “When an athlete stops trying to make the movement pretty, it usually starts to become pretty.” “The weight room supports speed. It should not compete with speed.” “Breathing gives athletes access to positions they did not know they had.” “Adaptable athletes win. Rigid athletes break.” “Coaching is about creating options for the athlete, not limiting them.” “I want athletes who can solve problems, not just follow instructions.” “Trust comes from communication, not complexity.” About Jarod Burton Dr. Jarod Burton is a chiropractor and sports performance coach who lives in the intersection of clinical practice, neuroscience, and high-performance human movement. A student of neurology and motor learning, Jarod works to uncover the hidden nervous system constraints that influence posture, coordination, elasticity, and power expression in sport. His methods combine manual therapy, joint mapping, sensory integration, and movement-based diagnostics to create individualized solutions that free up range, recalibrate neural rhythm, and unlock athletic speed, strength, and resilience. Jarod is passionate about a holistic philosophy of performance; one where the brain, body, and environment work in concert to reveal the best version of the athlete.
Dr. Alex Menze talks with Dr. Kristen Dams-O'Connor about traumatic encephalopathy syndrome and its relationship with traumatic brain injury. Read the related article in Neurology® Open Access. Disclosures can be found at Neurology.org.
This week, Ash sits down with Dan Cohen, a diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology who revolutionized sleep medicine and launched Breathe Right nasal strips, selling for $566 million. Dan shares his journey from developing automated sleep diagnostic equipment to rewriting the playbook for consumer product launches through creative marketing and NFL partnerships. The conversation explores Dan's philosophy on innovation - trusting intuition over overthinking and accessing the "higher mind" through meditation and receptivity. He dives deep into sleep science, explaining why we lose crucial deep sleep starting at age 25 and its connection to chronic disease, while offering practical optimization strategies. From sleep tips to patent strategy, Dan demonstrates how balancing inner wisdom with smart execution can lead to extraordinary outcomes, even when it means going against conventional wisdom. In This Episode, You'll Learn: Why deep sleep is critical for health and how we lose 60-70% of it by our mid-40s Simple meditation techniques focusing on body awareness and feeling states How Dan launched Breathe Right with radio interviews and creative distribution tactics Why intellectual property strategy is crucial for entrepreneurs How to identify leverage points when launching products without massive capital The importance of planning your exit strategy from the beginning Connect with Dan Cohen LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-cohen-md-55b33287/ Connect with Ash: https://www.instagram.com/ashleystahl/ Want to become a professional speaker and skyrocket your personal brand? Ashley's team at Wise Whisper Agency offers a done-with-you method to get your signature talk written and booked and it's helped more than 100 clients onto the TEDx stage! Head over to https://wisewhisperagency.com/speak/
In the final episode of our five-part series on primary progressive aphasia (PPA), Dr. Rogan Magee discusses bedside testing for PPA. Show citations: Grossman M, Seeley WW, Boxer AL, et al. Frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2023;9(1):40. Published 2023 Aug 10. doi:10.1038/s41572-023-00447-0 Gorno-Tempini ML, Hillis AE, Weintraub S, et al. Classification of primary progressive aphasia and its variants. Neurology. 2011;76(11):1006-1014. doi:10.1212/WNL.0b013e31821103e6 Santos-Santos MA, Rabinovici GD, Iaccarino L, et al. Rates of Amyloid Imaging Positivity in Patients With Primary Progressive Aphasia. JAMA Neurol. 2018;75(3):342-352. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2017.4309 Mandelli ML, Lorca-Puls DL, Lukic S, et al. Network anatomy in logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia. Hum Brain Mapp. 2023;44(11):4390-4406. doi:10.1002/hbm.26388 Putcha D, Erkkinen M, Daffner KR. Functional Neurocircuitry of Cognition and Cognitive Syndromes. In: Silbersweig DA, Safar LT, Daffner KR. eds. Neuropsychiatry and behavioral neurology: principles and practice. McGraw Hill; 2021. Accessed November 6, 2025. https://neurology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=3007§ionid=253215676 Montembeault M, Brambati SM, Gorno-Tempini ML, Migliaccio R. Clinical, Anatomical, and Pathological Features in the Three Variants of Primary Progressive Aphasia: A Review. Front Neurol. 2018;9:692. Published 2018 Aug 21. doi:10.3389/fneur.2018.00692 Clark DG. Frontotemporal Dementia. Continuum (Minneap Minn). 2024;30(6):1642-1672. doi:10.1212/CON.0000000000001506