Neurology Minute

In part one of this series, Dr. Tesha Monteith and Dr. Jennifer Robblee discuss an international consensus definition for refractory migraine and why clearer criteria are needed.  Show citations: Robblee J, Minen MT, Friedman BW, Cortel-LeBlanc MA, Cortel-LeBlanc A, Orr SL. 2025 Guideline Update to Acute Treatment of Migraine for Adults in the Emergency Department: The American Headache Society Evidence Assessment of Parenteral Pharmacotherapies. Headache. 2026;66(1):53-76. doi:10.1111/head.70016 Robblee J, Khan FA, Marmura MJ, et al. Reaching International Consensus on the Definition of Refractory Migraine Using the Delphi Method. Cephalalgia. 2025;45(9):3331024251367767. doi:10.1177/03331024251367767 Show transcript:  Dr. Tesha Monteith: Hi, this is Tesha Monteith with the Neurology Minute. I've just been speaking with Jennifer Robblee about her exciting work defining refractory migraine with an international consensus, as well as her work with the American Headache Society on a guideline update for parenta

Dr. Stacey Clardy reviews biotin deficiency and biotin-related lab interference. Show transcript:  Dr. Stacey Clardy: Hi, this is Stacey Clardy from the Salt Lake City VA and the University of Utah, and I'm back with you for another lab minute. Today, let's talk about Biotin or vitamin B7, because the Biotin story in neurology has two very different aspects. The first is a real deficiency, which is uncommon, but clinically really important. And the second is the modern problem of biotin supplementation that's quietly wrecking our lab interpretation. So first, true biotin deficiency in adults is less common, but it can look like a multi-system neurologic syndrome. The classic teaching is dermatitis and alopecia, so keep those in your mind. But neurologists end up seeing the downstream features. So lethargy, depression, paresthesias and sometimes ataxia. Now, in infants and children, the bigger higher stakes entity is biotinidase deficiency, which is fortunately screened in many newborn programs in the US. Untr

In this episode, Dr. Stacey Clardy reviews the February 23rd Capitol Hill Report, recapping key takeaways from Neurology on the Hill. Stay updated with what's happening on the hill by visiting aan.com/chr.  Learn how you can get involved with AAN advocacy.  Show transcript:  Dr. Stacey Clardy: Hi, this is Stacey Clardy with today's Neurology Minute. It's an advocacy update from the AAN's Capitol Hill Report. More than 200 AAN members came to Washington, DC, last week for the AAN's annual advocacy fly-in, Neurology on the Hill. As you probably know, this is the annual chance for neurologists to get some face-to-face time with members of Congress or their aides in the US right on Capitol Hill. AAN members had three asks for this year's event. We did cover them last week individually on the Neurology Minute, so have a listen if you want more detail, but I'll review them quickly.  First, we asked for a permanent inflationary update to physician reimbursement based on the Medicare Economic Index and to raise the o

In the March episode of the President's Spotlight, Dr. Jason Crowell and Dr. Natalia Rost share key updates and strategic insights for the upcoming April meeting in Chicago.  Stay informed by watching the President's Spotlight video.   Show transcript:  Dr. Jason Crowell: Hey, this is Jason Crowell. Thanks for listening to today's Neurology Minute. Once again, this month, we have Natalia Rost joining us, the president of the AAN for her presidential spotlight. Natalia, the sun is starting to come out. The flowers are starting to bloom. Spring is here. What is going on with the academy? What would you like to tell us about this month? Dr. Natalia Rost: These are exciting times indeed. Our annual meeting is just one month away. And so I'm looking forward to all of us coming together to learn, share ideas, and to connect. And this year, the world's largest neurology event is even larger. And I like to say it's my meeting of 15,000 friends. Dr. Jason Crowell: Terrific. For those who are listening today who haven'

Dr. Tesha Monteith and Dr. Patricia Pozo-Rosich discuss the latest advancements in headache medicine, focusing on key research findings from 2025.  Show transcript: Dr. Tesha Monteith: Hi, this is Tesha Monteith with the Neurology Minute. Welcome to our 2026 Headache Medicine Series. I've just been speaking with Patricia Pozo-Rosich about all of the exciting advances in headache medicine in 2025. For a minute, why don't you summarize some of the key advances in headache medicine research? Dr. Patricia Pozo-Rosich: I think that we have good news in headache. We are currently phase two trials for two or three different compounds, anti-part two, packup and new toxins. So we are actually, I think, excited to find out the phase 2B trial results and phase three. So well, that's something that I think is worth mentioning. Then I think it is important to remember that we have new data coming from real world evidence with long-term use of anti CGRP therapies. We also have data that shows that anti CGRP therapies are u

In part two of the series, Dr. Andy Southerland and Dr. Seemant Chaturvedi break down key takeaways from the OCEANIC‑STROKE trial.  Show citation:  Read more about the OCEANIC-STROKE trial.  Show transcript:  Dr. Andy Southerland:  Hello everyone. This is Andy Southerland from the University of Virginia. For today's Neurology Minute, I've just been speaking with my colleague, Seemant Chaturvedi from the University of Maryland, about exciting trials presented at this year's 2026 International Stroke Conference from the American Heart Association, American Stroke Association. And the one we want to discuss for today's Neurology Minute in brief was the OCEANIC-STROKE trial. This was a very large international trial looking at the use of a novel antithrombotic agent, a Factor XI inhibitor, compared to placebo as an adjunct to our traditional antiplatelet therapies for secondary stroke prevention. And it was received with quite a bit of excitement. So Seemant, tell us in brief, what did we learn from OCEANIC-STROK

In part one of this series, Dr. Andy Southerland and Dr. Seemant Chaturvedi discuss two trials highlighted at the 2026 International Stroke Conference.  Show citation:  Read more about the CHOICE-2 trial.  Show transcript:  Dr. Andy Southerland: Hello everyone. This is Andy Southerland. And for this week's Neurology Minute, I have just been speaking once again with my colleague, Seemant Chaturvedi, about his impressions from this year's 2026 American Heart Association, American Stroke Association International Stroke Conference. We've discussed a number of the very exciting pivotal trials presented at this year's meeting that occurred just a couple of weeks ago. But for the minute today, we want to just highlight two that were represented as late breaking trials in the world of acute stroke treatment. And the first was OPTION, which was a trial looking at extended window thrombolysis patients between four and a half and 24 hours. And the second was in the use of thrombolysis as an adjunct local treatment in p

In part four of this series, Dr. Tesha Monteith explores the true potential of AI integration in medical education.  Show transcript:  Dr. Tesha Monteith: Hi. This is Tesha Monteith with the Neurology Minute. I've been speaking with Roy Strowd, Jeff Ratliff, and Justin Abbatemarco about the use of AI in neurology education for the neurology podcast. My take is that we're just getting started with this stuff, including the true potential of AI integration in medical education. In my regular work, I used AI to generate clinical case vignettes that help trainees practice diagnostic reasoning, and also to create patient images that better reflect the cultural diversity of our neurology population. Beyond content creation, AI has helped me evaluate my curriculum by identifying gaps and strengths to better train fellows and residents. I've even used it as a tool to help me frame feedback, highlighting strengths, identifying areas for growth, and to provide a more forward-looking feedback approach. AI still needs wo

In part two of this series, Dr. Justin Abbatemarco, Dr. Marjo S. van der Knaap, and Romy J. van Voorst discuss the patient management card and how patients should use it.  Show citation: and Clinical Management of Vanishing White Matter. Neurology. 2025;105(11):e214320. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000214320  Show transcript:  Dr. Justin Abbatemarco: Hello and welcome back. This is Justin Abbatemarco here with Romy J. van Voorst and Dr. Marjo S. van der Knaap. After discussing her article, Published Neurology Consensus Base Expert Recommendation for Diagnosis and Clinical Management of Vanishing White Matter Disease. Romy, I really want to talk with you about the patient management card. What inspired you to create that in this publication, and how should patients use that? Romy J. van Voorst:  So what the main motivation was of the study was actually a previous study that we did before. And in this study, we looked at the impact of any short matter on unaffected family members. And we found out that actually many

Dr. Andy Southerland and Dr. Shyam Prabhakaran explain the significance of these guidelines and why they are important.  Show citation:  Prabhakaran S, Gonzalez NR, Zachrison KS, et al. 2026 Guideline for the Early Management of Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Guideline From the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Stroke. Published online January 26, 2026. doi:10.1161/STR.0000000000000513  Show transcript:  Dr. Andy Southerland: Hello everyone. This is Andy Southerland from the University of Virginia. And for this week's Neurology Minute, I've just been speaking with my colleague, Shyam Prabhakaran, from the University of Chicago, who was the Chair of the 2026 AHA/ASA guidelines for the early management of patients with Acute Ischemic stroke published in the January 2026 online version of the journal, Stroke. So Shyam, in our brief Neurology Minute today, why don't you just give a plea about why these guidelines are so important? Dr. Shyam Prabhakaran: Thanks, Andy. These guidelines

In part one of this two-part series, Dr. Justin Abbatemarco, Dr. Marjo S. van der Knaap, and Romy J. van Voorst discuss vanishing white matter disease, focusing on the clinical and MRI findings that would prompt the consideration of genetic testing.  Show citation: van Voorst RJ, Schoenmakers DH, Bonkowsky JL, et al. Consensus-Based Expert Recommendations for Diagnosis and Clinical Management of Vanishing White Matter. Neurology. 2025;105(11):e214320. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000214320  Show transcript:  Justin Abbatemarco: Hello and welcome. This is Justin Abbatemarco here with Romy J. van Voorst and Marjo S. van der Knaap. After discussing their article published in Neurology, Consensus-Based Expert Recommendation for Diagnosis and Clinical Management of Vanishing White Matter. They both work for Amsterdam University Medical Center in the Netherlands. And we're going to have a two-part episode dissecting maybe two elements of this paper. Marjo, maybe we could start here and just talking about what vanishing w

In the final episode of this three-part series, Dr. Stacey Clardy and Max Goldman talk about telehealth.  Stay updated with everything related to Neurology on the Hill. Show transcript:  Dr. Stacey Clardy: Hi, this is Stacey Clardy, and today we're wrapping up our three-part series covering the Top Advocacy Issues for Neurology on the Hill 2026 in Washington, DC. This is the event where many neurologists fly in from all over the country to meet with our elected representatives to discuss the issues of the most importance to our patients, and to allow us to continue to take good quality care of our neurology patients. We have again back with us, Max Goldman. He's the Director of Congressional Affairs from the AAN Legislative Team. Max, we covered Medicare, we covered neuroscience research in the Brain Initiative. The third and final issue is telehealth. What do we need to accomplish on telehealth in Washington, DC this year? Max Goldman: The telehealth flexibilities provided with the COVID-19 public health eme

In the second installment of this three-part series, Dr. Stacey Clardy and Max Goldman discuss neuroscience research and the BRAIN Initiative.  Stay updated with everything related to Neurology on the Hill. Show transcript:  Dr. Stacey Clardy:  Hi, this is Stacey Clardy. We are going to continue with our three-part series today about the top advocacy issues covered at Neurology on the Hill 2026 in Washington, DC. Again, as many of you know, this is the AAN's annual advocacy fly-in event. Neurologists come from all over the US to Washington and meet with elected representatives to discuss issues of high importance to allow us to continue providing high-quality care to patients in the US with neurological diseases. In the first minute, we discuss the topic of Medicare, and I have with me again, Max Goldman, director of Congressional Affairs from the AAN legislative team, to talk to us about issue number two, which is neuroscience research, and specifically the BRAIN Initiative. Max, what are we going to discuss

In the first part of this three-part series, Dr. Stacey Clardy and Max Goldman discuss the state of Medicare in 2026. Stay updated with everything related to Neurology on the Hill. Show transcript: Dr. Stacey Clardy: Hi, this is Stacey Clardy. Today, we're going to start the first of a three-part series about the top advocacy issues at Neurology on the Hill 2026 in Washington, DC. As many of you know, this is the AAN's Annual Advocacy fly-in event in the US, where neurologists come to Washington and meet with our elected representatives to discuss the issues that are important for all of us in the US to continue providing high-quality care to patients with neurological diseases. Every year in preparation for this event, the AAN selects a few issues to focus on with our lawmakers, and we're going to cover those in a three-minute series. We have Max Goldman, the Director of Congressional Affairs from the AAN Legislative Team, to give us the details. Max, the first topic that will be covered at Neurology on the

Dr. Alex Menze and Dr. Divyanshu Dubey discuss the clinical insights into autoimmune nodopathies, particularly focusing on CASPR1 and CASPR1/CNTN1-complex-IgG.  Show citation:  Paramasivan NK, Basal E, LaFrance-Corey RG, et al. Clinical Insights Into CASPR1 and CASPR1/Contactin-1 Complex Autoimmune Nodopathies. Neurology. 2026;106(5):e214403. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000214403 Show transcript:  Dr. Alexander Menze: Hi, this is Alexander Menze. I just finished interviewing Divyanshu Dubey for the Neurology podcast. For today's Neurology Minute, I'm hoping you can tell us the main points of your paper. Dr. Divyanshu Dubey: Our paper talks about a rare form of autoimmune neuropathy associated with antibodies, CASPR1, as well as CASPR1/Contactin-1 complex IgG. These patients present with similar to CIDP, IDP, but tend to have more rapid progression, often a lot of sensory features preceding motor deficits including sensory ataxia in the contact and CASPR complex cases and presence of neuropathic pain in some of the

Dr. Halley Alexander and Dr. Alissa M. D'Gama discuss genetic testing for infantile epilepsies.  Show citation:  Nguyen JNH, Lachgar-Ruiz M, Higginbotham EJ, et al. Diagnostic Yield of Comprehensive Reanalysis After Nondiagnostic Short-Read Genome Sequencing in Infants With Unexplained Epilepsy. Neurology. 2026;106(6):e214645. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000214645  Show transcript:  Dr. Halley Alexander:  Hi, this is Halley Alexander with today's Neurology Minute, and I'm here with Dr. Alissa D'Gama from Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and we just finished recording a full-length podcast about some exciting new work in genetic testing for infantile onset epilepsies. Alissa, can you tell us what you found briefly and why it's important for neurology care? Dr. Alissa D'Gama:  Infantile epilepsies are relatively common, and they're associated with substantial burden of disease, and we know that identifying underlying genetic causes can impact clinical care. It's important for emerging precision

In part three of this series, Dr. Jeff Ratliff discusses how access to information is not the same as clinical confidence. Show transcript:  Dr. Jeff Ratliff:  Hi, this is Jeff Ratliff from Thomas Jefferson University, and this is your Neurology Minute. I'm back again with a Neurology Minute episode to complement the podcast discussion I had with Roy Strowd, Justin Abbatemarco, and Tesha Monteith on the topic of technology-driven shifts in neurology education. In the episode, we touched on podcasting, AI-based learning, and social media on neurology education as a panel discussion. While there is still tremendous utility and promise and excitement around these tools, I think it's still helpful for us all to remember that access to information is not the same as clinical confidence. With tools like podcasts, learners can hear expert discussions on their commute or review topics in new interactive formats. With AI tools, learners can simulate talking to patients with a multitude of neurologic conditions. These

In part two of this series, Dr. Jeff Ratliff discusses the expanding role of AI and digital tools in neurology education, emphasizing the importance of verifying information and developing source literacy.  Show transcript:  Dr. Jeff Ratliff: Hi, this is Jeff Ratliff from Thomas Jefferson University, and this is your Neurology Minute. I recently recorded a podcast episode with Roy Strowd, Justin Abbatemarco, and Tesha Monteith, where we discussed the growing impact of technology in neurology education. In this episode, we touched on podcasting, AI-based learning and social media in neurology education, all as a panel discussion. As an accompaniment to that conversation, we're releasing a series of Neurology Minute episodes, exploring those tools. Today I want to focus an important caution, verification. With increasing use of digital tools, AI or otherwise. The need for caution and verification of sources is even more important. Large language models and other AI tools are very frequently used by trainees at

In part two of this series, Dr. Tesha Monteith and Dr. Andrew Hershey discuss appropriate treatment strategies to prevent migraines in children and adolescents. Show citation:  Hershey AD, Szperka CL, Barbanti P, et al. Fremanezumab in Children and Adolescents with Episodic Migraine. N Engl J Med. 2026;394(3):243-252. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2504546  Show transcript:  Dr. Tesha Monteith: This is Tesha Monteith with the Neurology Minute. I'm back with Andrew Hershey, professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Division of Neurology at Cincinnati Children's and the Children's Headache Center. This is part two of our discussion on his paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, fremanezumab in Children and Adolescents with Episodic Migraine. Andrew, now that we have fremanezumab approved for prevention of episodic migraine in children and adolescents, and we have a number of other devices and treatments for patients that can be used as part of FDA-approved treatment or even off-label, can you discuss an ap

Dr. Greg Cooper and Dr. David G. Coughlin discuss the role of αSyn-SAAs in diagnosing DBL and their relationship with Alzheimer's disease biomarkers.  Show citation: Coughlin DG, Jain L, Khrestian M, et al. CSF α-Synuclein Seed Amplification Assays and Alzheimer Disease Biomarkers in Dementia With Lewy Bodies: Presentation and Progression. Neurology. 2025;105(12):e214346. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000214346 Show transcript:  Dr. Greg Cooper: Hi, this is Dr. Greg Cooper. I just finished interviewing Dr. David Coughlin for this week's Neurology Podcast. For today's Neurology Minute, I'm hoping you can tell us the main points of your paper. Dr. David Coughlin: The main points of this paper in my mind is that α-Synuclein seed amplification assays from cerebrospinal fluid samples is useful in confirming the presence of synuclein pathology in people with clinically suspected dementia with Lewy bodies. But also that, for people who have synuclein positivity, that the presence of Alzheimer's disease mixed pathology is