Neurophilia: a fascination for neurology—a new syndrome

Neurophobia—the pathological fear of neurology—is a well recognised state of mind. This was first described in 19941 as occurring in medical students, and subsequently being demonstrated in junior doctors2 and around the world.3 ,4 While ‘neurophobia’ does not appear in the DSM-IV, the term does carry the implication that this is a disorder. However, as it is so widespread, occurring at all levels of training, across continents and through time, perhaps it should be regarded as the natural state for medical students and doctors. That certainly seems to be the presumption in many of the articles where it is discussed.2–4 In this article, I would like to explore a previously undescribed state, ‘neurophilia’, a love of neurology or more precisely a fascination by neurology. Moreover, I will argue that this is both widespread within medicine and the general population. Neurophilia is probably a precondition to become a neurologist and presumably pretty much all the readers of Practical Neurology are afflicted. How can we assess this in …