From large cross-sectional studies of autopsy material, it seems as if a time course of Alzheimer's Disease, at least on average, can be mapped out: a pattern of hierarchical vulnerability for neuronal loss and neurofibrillary tangles beginning in medial temporal lobe structures proceeding through association areas. Plaques follow their own temporal course, with widespread cortical deposits occurring even early in a disease process. The whole process may well take twenty years, the first half of which may be without overt symptoms.

The study of patients affected by disorders of the central nervous system is one of the crucial research methods for investigating the organization of cognitive functions in the brain. However, many clinicians remain unaware of the significant advances that have taken place in the field of cognitive neuroscience in the last decades. This book provides an introduction to the cognitive and behavioural aspects of the clinical practice of neurology. Most of the contributors to this book combine an active clinical practice with a leading role in their respective research area, and have provided concise summaries of the theoretical advances which they consider as potentially relevant for the clinical evaluation and treatment of patients. This general approach has led to a format which is different from the many textbooks of neuropsychology that have appeared in the last few years. The organization of the material follows the main issues of diagnostic evaluation, clinical presentation and management. As a consequence, the book deals not only with the classical neuropsychological syndromes associated with stroke and degenerative dementias, but also with other common clinical conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, head injury, epilepsy and psychiatric disorders, which are often neglected in neuropsychology textbooks. Cognitive Neurology will be essential for neurologists in training, who want to understand how the observations they make everyday in the clinic relate to the expanding knowledge about the organization of cognition and emotion in the human brain. It will also be of interest to psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists, speech and language clinicians and rehabilitation specialists and psychiatrists.