What Does a Neurology Doctor Do?
Neurology, from the Greek words neuron meaning “nerve” and logos meaning “study,” is the medical field involved with disorders of the brain and nervous system. A neurology doctor may refer to a physician who is a specialist in neurology and researches or diagnoses and treats neurological diseases and disorders or a neurosurgeon, who specializes in operating on the brain, nerves, and spinal cord. Depending on his or her specialty and the focus of his or her practice, a neurology doctor may do a number of different things.
A neurology doctor who elects to become a neurosurgeon undergoes the longest training period of any medical specialty in the United States and enters one of the most competitive areas in medicine. Neurosurgeons repair malformations, treat injuries, remove pathological growths, and implant devices. Neurosurgeons use a variety of imaging techniques—such as Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Magnetoencephalography (MEG), and Positron Emission Tomography (PET)—both for diagnosis and during surgery.
Some neurological issues require surgery on the spine. This is true for spinal disc herniation, spinal stenosis, spinal cord trauma, and tumors of the spine or spinal cord. It is also true for the congenital malformation called spina bifida. Other neurosurgery issues involve the brain, such as brain tumors, head trauma, cerebral aneurysms, hydrocephalus, and craniosynostosis.
A neurologist’s practice can be broad or focused. A specialist in Child Neurology or Geriatric Neurology will see a range of disorders that affect people in a certain age range. However, a neurology doctor who specializes in areas such as Dementia, Epilepsy, Headache Medicine, Neuro-Opthamology, Neuro-Oncology, Parkinson and Movement Disorders, or Sleep Disorders, may treat people across a wider range of ages, all in the focused area.
Neurologists and neurosurgeons may work together on some cases. In addition, neurology doctors may sometimes team with doctors in other specialties. This can happen when a patient’s diagnosis or treatment lies at the juncture of several medical specialties. Other specialists that may be involved in a case along with a neurology doctor include specialists in rehabilitation medicine, infectious disease, or geriatric medicine. Also, neurology doctors may interact with a patient’s primary care physician or—if the patient is a child—the patient’s pediatrician.
Regardless of specialty, a neurology doctor may be primarily involved in a practice or primarily involved in research. Developments in imagery technology that have benefited neurosurgery have also benefited neurology research. Other neuroimaging techniques are Electroencephalography (EEG), which includes both Quantitative Electroencephalography (QEEG) and Stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG), Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS), Single-Cell Recording, Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (TDCS), and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS).
Written by Mary Elizabeth
