Editors' note: The state of academic neurology departments in the United States, 2016: A national survey

Abstract

In the special editorial “The state of academic neurology departments in the United States, 2016: A national survey,” author Gooch highlighted how most neurology faculty members are not on a tenure track and that almost 40% of academic neurology departments have purely clinical faculty with no educational or research responsibilities. Dr. Meador adds data from other surveys indicating that time spent by academic neurologists on research and education has sharply declined over the last 30 years and questions whether this new balance is appropriate. Author Gooch responds that cuts to research funding and clinical reimbursement will likely make the situation worse and that academic leaders and faculty should engage at the institutional and national levels in order to have input into what the future of academic neurology looks like. In “Sleep architecture and the risk of incident dementia in the community,” the authors found an association between dementia risk and lower percentage of REM sleep. They hypothesized that changes in REM sleep may be protective against cognitive decline.