Preface
The disciplines of neuroanatomy and neurophysiology have the unique ability to fill veterinary students with fear; consequently, when those students then become veterinarians they remain uncomfortable with localising neurological lesions; they may be anxious or flummoxed when confronted with a neurological case.
Lesion localisation is the foundation stone on which diagnostic neurology is built: without accurate lesion localisation, diagnosing and treating neurological cases becomes a stab-in-the-dark.We are committed to sharing our enthusiasm about this fabulous field and so this book was written to help veterinarians and vets-in-training appreciate the neuroanatomical concepts that underlie the function and dysfunction of the nervous system.
The information provided in this book is based on that which we have found to be essential to understanding clinical neurology. It starts with the fundamentals of the gross structure and functional anatomy of the nervous system, and is followed by discussions of the different neural systems. It culminates in a chapter on the neurological examination and lesion localisation. We have tried our best to present the key concepts in simple, user-friendly language. We’ve also tried to cater for those readers with a deeper interest by supplying detail, but in such a way that it compliments rather than overwhelms the key concepts. We have exemplified the key concepts with images that illustrate how you can see the normal function of the nervous system in every animal that you watch. But as neural function is often graphically illustrated by dysfunction, we have also included many clinical case scenarios. Crucially, these clinical examples will also familiarise the practitioner, or student, with the clinical signs caused by specific lesions in the nervous system. The appendix contains 31 high-resolution, anatomical and histological images depicting detailed anatomy, and a comprehensive glossary that gives a brief summary of each structure and its function. In conjunction with the detail in the text, the Appendix should also make this book a useful reference text for anyone with a deeper interest in clinical neurology and neuropathology.
We very much hope that this book will help veterinarians and other neurophiles to better understand what is happening in the nervous system of the patients under their care: if we can achieve this goal then we will have repaid our mentors for all they have given us and, perhaps, help to inspire the next generation of veterinary neurologists.
May neuroanatomy ‘live long and prosper’!
CH and CT
March 2012