So to the final issue of our fifth year, and thank you for all your support and encouragement.

The first review article takes on restless leg syndrome, which is a common neurological disorder that is often missed and for which there are effective therapies. Recently a great deal of interest has been shown towards this disorder both at an aetiological and therapeutic level. It is therefore very timely that we have this excellent short review by Wolfgang Oertel and colleagues. The article gives a brief summary on the aetiology of this condition, which leads on to an excellent description of the disorder and a comprehensive and exhaustive list of possible therapies. This latter area includes data from major trials and as one might expect from such distinguished authors allows conclusions to be drawn on drug efficacy in an evidence based fashion.

Sanjay Sisodiya discusses the area of genetics and epilepsy – a vast topic that of late has thrown up some exciting insights. This includes the channelopathies as well as the identification of susceptibility genes, although the verification of the latter and the overall clinical significance of the former are issues which are discussed in this article. However perhaps the most exciting area is in pharmacogenetics to which the author and his colleagues in London have made a major contribution. This area has major therapeutic implications in that different generic variants would modify drug strategies so allowing therapy to be more tailored to individuals.

In the second in our series on the Neuroscience of Vision we have the great honour of having Professor John Leigh and Dr Sangeeta Khanna writing about eye movements both at the level of anatomy and physiology as well as neurological practice. This is a wonderfully clear and informative account and of enormous clinical and neuroscientific interest written by great experts in this field.

Bruce Rosenthal opens our eyes to the issue of low vision in the rehabilitation article.His review begins with the sobering comment that 90% of the world’s 161 million visually impaired people live in the developing world, and 75% of cases overall are due to one of four causes. This article then takes us through the panoply of assessments and devices available for such patients, which is a real education in the ingenuity of those involved in their management. Sadly though access to these services is a real issue, and remains a great challenge in the global management of this disorder.

Everyone has heard of PCR, most people can even tell you what it stands for (polymerase chain reaction) but few actually know what it means. In our Techniques in Neuroscience series Maria Ban takes us through the technique before discussing DNA sequencing, a technique for which Fred Sanger received one of his two Nobel prizes. For the non molecular among you this short review is easy to follow and even I now understand PCR and DNA sequencing.

The sponsored article from Medtronic® in this issue investigates the merits of thalamic deep brain stimulation in 15 patients with post stroke pain syndromes. Of the 15 patients, 12 elected for full implantation of the deep brain stimulation apparatus with a mean improvement in symptoms of about 50% with no reported complications outside of a single lead fracture. This is an interesting article which raises many questions and possibilities not least those of health economics.

The neuropathology series moves to Edinburgh, and James Ironside with Diane Ritchie discuss CJD. This article, as one would expect from such an authoritative centre, is clear and provides much useful information including the classification of CJD using 129 PRNP genotypes. In addition it provides insights into recent developments (for example PET blotting methods) and the possibility of blood based diagnostic tests. This is a terrific account which complements our other recent articles on CJD.

In a continuation of his wonderful series of articles, Andrew Larner takes us on a tour (de force) of headache in literature.He leads us through a range of examples from well known Lewis Carroll account of migraine in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to the less well known examples to be found in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome and L.Montgomery writing in Anne of Green Gables. As always one cannot but be impressed by Andrew’s close reading of these books and his eye for descriptions of neurological disorders, although he fails to say whether the intermittent headache of Harry Potter is some form of cluster headache.

Finally we have our usual series of conference reports and journal reviews, and as always do let us know if you would like to be more involved with the journal.

Roger Barker
Roger@acnr.co.uk