Knowledge has been described as being like an expanding sphere with the volume of knowledge contacting a surface on the unknown. This new comprehensive review of the many fields of basic and clinical research that impact our understanding of multiple sclerosis has its basis in this premise. In doing research on MS, it is not enough to know clinical neurology or neurochemistry or neuroanatomy or pathology; it is important to understand the many other areas that relate to them. This volume provides an overview of MS-related research and will benefit many investigators in the field and help to advance our efforts to cure this, thus far intractable, disease.

It is now more than 160 years since the first clinical-pathological descriptions of cases of multiple sclerosis and more than 130 years since the classic clinical description and development of diagnostic criteria by Charcot, yet MS remains an enigma. After decades of intense effort to find the cause, no cause has been clearly identified and the disease remains poorly understood. Despite the introduction of immunomodulatory therapies and immunosuppressive regimens, MS remains a devastating disease. While a great deal of progress has been made, much remains to be done. Our understanding of the disease remains limited, treatments remain inadequate, and comprehensive management all too rare.

This volume is an overview of the basic sciences as they relate to MS and will provide clinicians and investigators a better understanding of the basic aspects of the disease. While it is possible to find excellent reviews of almost any aspect of MS, few attempts have been made to bring these very different aspects together in a single source. This volume is a companion to Multiple Sclerosis: Diagnosis, Medical Management, and Rehabilitation, edited by Drs. Jack S. Burks and Kenneth P. Johnson. Together, they represent an attempt to comprehensively cover the field of MS from basic research to comprehensive management and to provide a broad overview for those interested in understanding the disease better or in pursuing MS research.