Forensic Neuropsychology: A Scientific ApproachEdited by Glenn J. LarrabeeNew York, Oxford University Press, 2005479 pp, illustrated, $68.50

Many chapters in Forensic Neuropsychology should be requiredreading not only for neuropsychologists, but also for anyoneinterested in the science (or litigation) of behavior, includingneurologists and psychiatrists. They provide an excellent re-view not only of many of the principles underlying the quan-titative assessment of behavior and their forensic implica-tions, but also of the scientific method and the peculiarinterface between scientific methodology and the law. Theinitial chapter “A Scientific Approach to Forensic Neuropsy-chology” by the editor, Glenn Larrabee, sets a very high stan-dard that, for the most part, the other chapters meet. Larra-bee’s initial chapter addresses questions ranging from “Whatis science?” to the Bradford–Hill criteria for causality, biasesin historical recollection, false-positives, false-negatives, oddsratios, and the estimation of premorbid neuropsychologicalability. This chapter alone is worth the price of the book. Inaddition, there are also excellent chapters on neuropsychol-ogy and the law (which candidly discusses aspects of the at-torney–expert relationship that are very applicable to physi-cians as well), malingering and lack of effort, mild traumaticbrain injury, the assessment of medically unexplained symp-toms (conditions often given the rubric of “multiple chemi-cal sensitivity” and “fibromyalgia”), and several chapters thatdeal with assessment of competency in the civil and criminalarenas. Other chapters deal with issues related to release ofrecords and raw data, functional imaging, pediatric traumaticbrain injury, moderate and severe traumatic brain injury, andneurotoxins (known, suspected, or arguable). One could dis-agree with some of the specific statements and conclusions(and this reviewer, for one, certainly does), but, for the mostpart, they are developed from a critical and balanced reviewof the literature and expressed with the proper degree ofqualification, when qualification is necessary.

This reviewer’s only really substantive criticisms of Foren-sic Neuropsychology are not related to how it treats forensicneuropsychology, but, rather, to the fact that it fails to covercertain topics; this neglect reflects a larger trend in the fieldin general. There is relatively little attention to the temporalevolution of symptoms, signs, and laboratory tests. The ma-jor focus is on test results obtained in the present, not to thepossible course of disease in the past. There is also relativelylittle attention given to the frequent contradictions betweendifferent historical sources, historical data, and everyday lifeactivities, or any and all of these and the test results. Finally,neurology and psychiatry are hardly mentioned. This is per-haps as it should be, given the inherent limitations of thetheme of Forensic Neuropsychology. However, the reader atleast should keep in mind that neuropsychological methodsare only one of the possible ways to investigate behavior andthe brain, within a legal context, or outside of one.

Barry Gordon, MD, PhDBaltimore, MD

Movement Disorder EmergenciesEdited by Steven J. Frucht and Stanley FahnTotowa, NJ, Humana Press, 2005264 pp, $135.00, illustrated

Can you list 10 causes of acute parkinsonism? Can you rec-ognize and treat malignant phonic tics, the serotonin syn-drome, and the parkinsonian-hyperpyrexia syndrome? Whatis the differential diagnosis of acute spinal rigidity? Do youknow the pathognomonic signs of central nervous systemWhipple’s disease? If so, you may not need Movement Dis-order Emergencies. For everyone else, including this reviewer,it nicely fills a void in the literature on movement disorders.

Compared with other specialties in neurology, there arerelatively few true movement disorder emergencies, but theirrarity makes them more susceptible to being misdiagnosed ormismanaged. Every neurologist has managed status epilepti-cus, neuromuscular respiratory failure, and intracerebralhemorrhage, but not everyone has seen or knows how tomanage acute dystonic storm. As stated in the preface, Move-ment Disorder Emergencies is written for residents, generalneurologists, fellows, and specialists in movement disorders.Importantly, much of the information here is not routinelycovered in the standard texts on movement disorders, neu-rological emergencies, or intensive care unit neurology.

I was surprised to see chapters on Wilson’s disease, dopa-responsive dystonia, and Whipple’s disease. Are they reallyemergencies? Well, maybe, according to the editor’s defini-tion: “… a movement disorder emergency [is] any neurolog-ical disorder, evolving acutely or subacutely, in which theclinical presentation is dominated by a primary movementdisorder, and in which failure to accurately diagnose andmanage the patient may result in significant morbidity oreven mortality.” As such, these chapters (really, all of them)fall under the heading of “don’t miss diagnoses.”

The brief introductory chapter on the major categories ofmovement disorders emphasizes the emergencies discussed inthe subsequent 19 scholarly chapters by experts. Akinetic-rigid emergencies are covered in chapters on acute parkin-sonism, the parkinsonism-hyperpyrexia syndrome, neurolep-tic malignant syndrome, malignant catatonia, and acutespinal rigidity. Chapters on hyperkinetic disorders cover ticemergencies including malignant phonic tics, dystonic storm,pseudodystonic emergencies, neuroleptic-induced emergen-cies (primarily acute dystonic reactions), hemiballismus, Sy-denham’s and PANDAS, and hyperekplexia. Two chapterspresent emergencies of the airway and digestive track (swal-lowing) caused by movement disorders such as laryngeal dys-function in multiple system atrophy, a potentially lethalcomplication requiring prompt recognition and manage-ment. The serotonin syndrome gets a chapter (excellent) asdo those mentioned above: Wilson’s disease, Whipple’s, anddopa-responsive dystonia. Each chapter begins with one ormore illustrative vignettes.

Finish Movement Disorder Emergencies and there’s a sur-prise inside the back cover: a DVD. The series editor, DanTarsy writes in his introduction: “… you have to have seenone to recognize one!” And after you see the DVD, you’ll beable to recognize one. I have several criticisms of the DVD,even though most of the segments are excellent. First, thecaptions are in the middle of the screen, temporarily block-

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