Movement Disorders in Neurology and Neuropsychiatry, 2nd Edition

This new edition of Joseph and Young's textbook provides a refreshing examination of movement disorders. A unique feature that distinguishes this book from run-of-the-mill textbooks on involuntary movements is that “movement disorders” themselves are conceptualized broadly. Rather than confining their view to involuntary movements of the extrapyramidal motor system, the editors have chosen to cast a wider net, covering an extensive and varied range of other disorders of movement, which include sleepwalking, bruxism, pathological laughing, and pathological crying.

The textbook consist of 100 chapters by a series of distinguished authors. The book has 10 parts, but these can be combined into three main groups. The chapters that would be found in a typical textbook on movement disorders appear in Part II, Neurodegenerative Disorders Including Huntington's Disease, Parkinsonism, Wilson's Disease; Part V, Tics, Myoclonus, Startle; Part VI, Ballism and Athetosis; and Part VII, Tremor and Dystonia. Other topics that might be far less extensively covered in such a textbook are included in Part I, Disorders of Movement Associated with Drugs. And chapters that might not be found at all in a typical textbook on extrapyramidal disorders, but rather involve the interplay between movement, psychiatry, and cognitive sciences, are those in Part III, Mood and Movement; Part IV, Other Psychiatric Disorders Including Schizophrenia and Conversion Disorders; Part VIII, Disorders Associated With Sleep; Part IX, Childhood Disorders of Movement Including Autism; and Part X, Special Topics Including Apraxia, Alien Hand, and Factitious Movement Disorders.

A strength of this book is its combination of eclecticism and broad utility. It devotes individual chapters to a range of phenomena that are rarely the focus of separate book chapters but are encountered frequently in clinical settings (e.g., rabbit syndrome, neurologic soft signs in psychiatric disorders, mirror movement, and motor disorders in persons with mental retardation). These phenomena typically have been dealt with in a cursory manner in books that use a disease-oriented or systems-oriented approach to movement disorders.

Aside from the strength of its content, this book is very readable, and most chapters are written in a style that flows well. The book opens with a brief, well-written overview of disorders of involuntary movement, which elucidates much of the terminology used throughout the volume. The chapter on drug-induced dyskinesias is particularly well written and comprehensive. Among the many other well-written chapters are those on oculogyric crisis, Wilson's disease, and akathisia.

In addition, the bulk of the chapters are characterized by an often difficult-to-achieve combination of comprehensiveness and brevity. The editors should be credited with having chosen topics that are very well focused, allowing for inclusive discussions that are also succinct. Another useful feature is that a number of the literature reviews provided are in tabular form, allowing the reader to quickly develop a sense of the range of studies, the sample sizes, the measures used, and the findings.

I was hard pressed to find any problems with the book, although some of the chapters would have benefited from figures, which would provide a visual analog as well as break up the text.

In summary, Movement Disorders in Neurology and Neuropsychiatry, 2nd Edition, provides a comprehensive understanding of movement disorders in both neurology and neuropsychiatry. I would recommend this book for neurologists and psychiatrists whose clinical practice encompasses patients with involuntary movements. The textbook is also a useful learning tool for residents, fellows, and attending physicians.