Clinical neurophysiology is a medical

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

 specialty that studies the central and peripheral nervous systems through the recording of bioelectrical activity, whether spontaneous or stimulated.

In some countries it is a part of neurology

Neurology

Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...

 or psychiatry

Psychiatry

Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...

, for example the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 http://www.abpn.com/cnp.htm and Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. In others it is an autonomous specialty, such as Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 and Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

.

The major diagnostic modalities employed include:

• Electromyography
  Electromyography
  Electromyography is a technique for evaluating and recording the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles. EMG is performed using an instrument called an electromyograph, to produce a record called an electromyogram. An electromyograph detects the electrical potential generated by muscle...
  
   and nerve conduction studies: Diagnostic tests of the peripheral nervous system, especially useful in evaluating diseases of the muscles, nerves, and nerve roots
• Electroencephalography
  Electroencephalography
  Electroencephalography is the recording of electrical activity along the scalp. EEG measures voltage fluctuations resulting from ionic current flows within the neurons of the brain...
  
  : Diagnostic test of thalamocortical rhythms (brain waves), useful in evaluating seizures and various abnormalities of the central nervous system
• Evoked potential
  Evoked potential
  An evoked potential is an electrical potential recorded from the nervous system of a human or other animal following presentation of a stimulus, as distinct from spontaneous potentials as detected by electroencephalography or electromyography .Evoked potential amplitudes tend to be low, ranging...
  
  s: Diagnostic test evaluating specific tracts of the central and peripheral nervous system. May include visual, auditory, or somatosensory evoked potentials.
• Polysomnography
  Polysomnography
  Polysomnography , also known as a sleep study, is a multi-parametric test used in the study of sleep and as a diagnostic tool in sleep medicine. The test result is called a polysomnogram, also abbreviated PSG...
  
  : A type of sleep study employed to diagnose disorders associated with abnormal sleep behavior
• Intraoperative monitoring, Intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring
  Neuromonitoring
  Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring or intraoperative neuromonitoring is the use of electrophysiological methods such as electroencephalography , electromyography , and evoked potentials to monitor the functional integrity of certain neural structures during surgery...
  
  :

Clinical neurophysiology in the United States
The pathway to becoming a clinical neurophysiologist in the US includes completing an undergraduate degree, medical school, and postgraduate medical education, usually in neurology. Following the completion of an accredited residency program, clinicians may choose to enter a fellowship in Clinical Neurophysiology. Programs may expose their fellows to the broad spectrum of electrodiagnostic neurophysiologic studies, or may focus on a single area such as EEG or EMG. Clinical Neurophysiology fellowships are generally 1-2 years in duration and may lead to board certification in one or more subspecialty areas.

External links

• American Academy of Neurology
• American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine
• Clinical Neurophysiology
• Initial Qualification in the Subspecialty of Clinical Neurophysiology, from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
  American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
  The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation that was founded in 1934 following conferences of committees appointed by the American Psychiatric Association, the American Neurological Association, and the then Section on Nervous and Mental Diseases of the American...
  
  
• Neuromuscular disease center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
• Cleveland Clinic Online Medical Reference
• ILAE Task Force on Classification
• Tele EMG
• EMG The Expert
• Neurofisiologia Universidad de Montevideo
• Accredited Educational Program for Electroneurodiagnostic Technologist
• Perineuro, web de Neurofisiología Clínica
• Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, web del Servicio de Neurofisiología Clínica

Organizations for clinical neurophysiology

• International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology
• American Academy of Clinical Neurophysiology
• British Society for Clinical Neurophysiology
• Norwegian Society for Clinical Neurophysiology
• Dutch Society for Clinical Neurophysiology
• Italian Society for Clinical Neurophysiology
• Mexican Society for Clinical Neurophysiology
• Sociedad Española de Neurofisiología Clínica
• American Academy of Neurology
• Czech Society for Clinical Neurophysiology