Editorial

Of the range of topics covered in Brain, Alzheimer's disease occupies the largest share. This issue is unusual in featuring only one paper on the subject (Polygenic hazard score, amyloid deposition and Alzheimer's neurodegeneration, by Chin Hong Tan, Luke Bonham and co-workers). The larger slice of the Brain's cake given to Alzheimer's disease than other subjects probably reflects the relative levels of research activity in different areas of neurology, and is also apparent in the Impact Factors of subspecialty journals. Thus, Brain lags behind both Acta Neuropathologica and Alzheimer's and Dementia, but is ahead of specialist journals in all other areas of neurology. The burden of dementia in the ageing population goes some way to explain the amount of research funding in this field, although it has been argued that Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative disorders receive more NIH dollars than several diseases with comparable prevalence and impact on society such as epilepsy and stroke (Meador et al., 2011), and far more than the commonest neurological disease, migraine. Among possible explanations are misconceptions about rates of response to antiepileptic drugs or therapeutic futility in stroke, and a more organized lobby pressing for investment in research in dementia and Parkinson's disease.

http://bit.ly/2HC0zPt