'… this volumes strengths - its clarity, brevity, and breadth of vision - are to be applauded. Where else would one find tidy one-paragraph descriptions of the basis of magnetic resonance spectroscopy, or the difference between an odds ratio and a relative risk? I have already lent out my copy of this handy little one volume summation and recommend it as a launchpad for readers' further investigations into ALS/MND.' Matthew Parton, Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry

• Foreword; Preface; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; 1. Epidemiological considerations; 2. The clinical spectrum of ALS; 3. The pathology of ALS; 4. Pathogenic mechanisms in ALS; 5. The role of clinical neurophysiology in ALS; 6. The application of imaging techniques; 7. ALS therapy, therapeutic trials and neuroprotection; 8. The overlap syndromes; References; Index.