Neurological Rehabilitation (Handbook of Clinical Neurology)

Neurological Rehabilitation is the latest volume in the definitive Handbook of Clinical Neurology series. It is the first time that this increasing important subject has been included in the series and this reflects the growing interest and quality of scientific data on topics around neural recovery and the practical applications of new research. The volume will appeal to clinicians from both neurological and rehabilitation backgrounds and contains topics of interest to all members of the multidisciplinary clinical team as well as the neuroscience community. The volume is divided into five key sections. The first is a summary of current research on neural repair, recovery and plasticity. The authors have kept the topics readable for a non-scientific audience and focused on the aspects of basic neuroscience that should be most relevant to clinical practice. The next section covers the basic principles of neurorehabilitation, including excellent chapters on learning and skill acquisition, outcome measurement and functional neuroimaging. The key clinical section comes next and includes updates and reviews on the management of the main neurological disabling physical problems, such as spasticity, pain, sexual functioning and dysphagia. Cognitive, emotional and behavioural problems are just as important and are covered in the next section, with excellent chapters, for example, on memory and management of executive dysfunction. The final part draws the sections on symptom management together by discussing the individual diseases that are most commonly seen in neurorehabilitation and providing an overview of the management of the disability associated with those disorders. The volume is a definitive review of current neurorehabilitation practice and will be valuable to a wide range of clinicians and scientists working in this rapidly developing field.