Autoimmune brain diseases: what you need to know

In recent decades, neurology has evolved from localisation-based eponymous diagnoses to molecular characterisation and classification. Neuroimmunology has received particular attention as many diagnostic mysteries have become answerable using an increasing array of IgG antibody diagnostic tests, and many are now treatable. While autoimmunity as a cause for peripheral nervous system disease gained acceptance among neurologists during the 1970s, the study of autoimmune encephalitis and related CNS diseases only came to the fore in 2004. A new subspecialty of autoimmune neurology has since emerged. Central to this discipline are immune-mediated CNS disorders beyond the scope of multiple sclerosis, which include neuromyelitis optica, autoimmune encephalitides and myelopathies, as well as autoimmune neuropathies, myopathies, and neuromuscular junction disorders. Autoimmune encephalitis, as a potentially treatable disorder, has gained prominence among neurologists, patients with undiagnosed brain illnesses, and their families, and has captured the imagination of the lay media. The most famous of these disorders is anti-NMDA-receptor encephalitis, often historically diagnosed as a primary psychiatric illness, now one of around 40 CNS disorders diagnosable through neural antibody testing.