Book Review

Parkinson's Disease: Neurobehavioral Aspects

N Engl J Med 1993; 328:1720-1721June 10, 1993

Article

Parkinson's Disease: Neurobehavioral Aspects
Edited by Steven J. Huber and Jeffrey L. Cummings. 368 pp. New York, Oxford University Press, 1992. $65. ISBN: 0-19-506969-2

This book is directed primarily at the behavioral aspects of Parkinson's disease, although there is a brief introductory section containing a general overview of the disorder. Subsequent sections, each containing four to six chapters, deal with cognitive impairments, dementia, depression, and the effects of medication on behavior and cognition in patients with parkinsonism. The book concludes with a brief but useful summary that highlights the need for further studies and suggests some of the directions they should take.

The 37 contributors to the 25 chapters are drawn mainly from the United States and Canada, and many are well-known authorities on Parkinson's disease or behavioral neurology. The focused subject matter of this book will inevitably restrict its audience but at the same time gives it an important additional dimension that sets it apart from the many other works on Parkinson's disease that have been published in the past decade. In view of the focus of the book, certain areas that should have been covered in depth have received rather scant attention. For example, the antipsychotic agent clozapine (which is relatively free of extrapyramidal side effects) is discussed in only three brief sentences despite its importance in the management of psychotic or delusional states in patients with Parkinson's disease.

The material is generally presented well, and numerous tables add to the clarity of the text. Comprehensive summaries conclude some but not other chapters, and greater consistency in this regard would have assisted the reader. It also would have been helpful if the bibliographies provided at the end of each chapter had been combined in a single list of references at the end of the book, since there is so much overlap between chapters.

This book contains a wealth of information on Parkinson's disease, much of which is of immediate practical relevance. Accordingly, it will be of particular value to those concerned with the management of this common and often disabling neurologic disorder, to whom it can be recommended.

Michael J. Aminoff, M.D., F.R.C.P.
University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143