Neurology, the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the nervous system, encompasses many subspecialties, but there is no consensus as to what they are. The subspecialties recognized by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, https://www.abms.org/board/american-board-of-psychiatry-neurology/#abpn-n, and the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties, https://www.ucns.org/Online/Online/Certification_Home.aspx?hkey=c7f37845-c035-4186-bd99-9eff677d6c90, are far from identical. Furthermore, neither the ABPN nor the UCNS acknowledges subspecialties that are well established in the profession and are the subject of fellowship training, such as neuroimmunology, https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/division-neuroimmunology/overview/ovc-20443721. And the ABPN (but not the UCNS) recognizes two certifications that are equally available to practitioners in other fields – sleep medicine (otolaryngologists, internists, anesthesiologists) and pain medicine (anesthesiologists, physiatrists).
That said, the following list of subspecialties, while probably not all-inclusive, demonstrates the vast range of conditions treated by neurologists.
Neurocritical Care: Treats patients with life-threatening neurological illnesses, postoperative neurosurgical complications, and neurological manifestations of systemic disease. Common acute neurological illnesses including massive stroke, intracerebral and subarachnoid hemorrhage, traumatic brain injury, and status epilepticus.
Clinical Neurophysiology: Focuses on the evaluation of central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous system disorders using a combination of clinical evaluation and electrophysiologic testing such as electroencephalography (EEG), electromyography (EMG), and nerve conduction studies (NCS).
Neuromuscular Medicine: Concentrates on disorders affecting the nerves that control muscles, such as muscular dystrophy, myasthenia gravis, peripheral neuropathies (e.g., diabetic), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Neuroimmunology: Deals with autoimmune diseases affecting the nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica, and autoimmune encephalitis.
Movement Disorders: Specializes in conditions characterized by abnormal movements, including Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, dystonia, and Huntington’s disease.
Headache Medicine: Focuses on the diagnosis and management of various headache disorders, including migraines, tension-type headaches, and cluster headaches.
Neuro-oncology: Deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and management of tumors in all parts of the nervous system – the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves.
Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry: Focuses on the evaluation and management of cognitive and behavioral impairments resulting from brain dysfunction, such as Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, traumatic brain injury, ADHD, and any illness diagnosed without a known cause (functional neurological disorders, formerly designated hysteria.)
Epilepsy: Specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy and other seizure disorders, including the use of antiepileptic medications, ketogenic diet therapy, and referral for surgical intervention when other treatments fail.
Vascular Neurology: Focuses on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of stroke and other cerebrovascular disorders, including transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) and intracerebral hemorrhage.
Neuro-Ophthalmology: A subspecialty of both neurology and ophthalmology. Deals with visual problems that are related to the nervous system – that is, visual problems that do not come from the eyes themselves. These include optic nerve problems, unexplained visual loss, double vision, abnormal eye movements, thyroid eye disease, myasthenia gravis, and unequal pupil size.
