[1] Neurological practice relies heavily on the field of neuroscience, the scientific study of the nervous system, using various techniques of neurotherapy.

[5] The academic discipline began between the 15th and 16th centuries with the work and research of many neurologists such as Thomas Willis, Robert Whytt, Matthew Baillie, Charles Bell, Moritz Heinrich Romberg, Duchenne de Boulogne, William A. Hammond, Jean-Martin Charcot, C. Miller Fisher and John Hughlings Jackson.

Neo-Latin neurologia appeared in various texts from 1610 denoting an anatomical focus on the nerves (variably understood as vessels), and was most notably used by Willis, who preferred Greek νευρολογία.

[7][8] In the United States and Canada, neurologists are physicians who have completed a postgraduate training period known as residency specializing in neurology after graduation from medical school.

Typically, the exam tests mental status, function of the cranial nerves (including vision), strength, coordination, reflexes, sensation and gait.

Neurologists begin their interactions with patients by taking a comprehensive medical history, and then performing a physical examination focusing on evaluating the nervous system.

Components of the neurological examination include assessment of the patient's cognitive function, cranial nerves, motor strength, sensation, reflexes, coordination, and gait.

Neurotherapy involves systemic targeted delivery of an energy stimulus or chemical agents to a specific neurological zone in the body.

Many neurologists work in academic training hospitals, where they conduct research as neuroscientists in addition to treating patients and teaching neurology to medical students.

In some countries, additional legal responsibilities of a neurologist may include making a finding of brain death when it is suspected that a patient has died.

Cerebral palsy is initially treated by pediatricians, but care may be transferred to an adult neurologist after the patient reaches a certain age.

Clinical neuropsychologists are often called upon to evaluate brain-behavior relationships for the purpose of assisting with differential diagnosis, planning rehabilitation strategies, documenting cognitive strengths and weaknesses, and measuring change over time (e.g., for identifying abnormal aging or tracking the progression of a dementia).

In some countries such as the United States and Germany, neurologists may subspecialize in clinical neurophysiology, the field responsible for EEG and intraoperative monitoring, or in electrodiagnostic medicine nerve conduction studies, EMG, and evoked potentials.

In the past, prior to the advent of more advanced diagnostic techniques such as MRI some neurologists have considered psychiatry and neurology to overlap.

Although mental illnesses are believed by many[weasel words] to be neurological disorders affecting the central nervous system, traditionally they are classified separately, and treated by psychiatrists.

In a 2002 review article in the American Journal of Psychiatry, Professor Joseph B. Martin, Dean of Harvard Medical School and a neurologist by training, wrote, "the separation of the two categories is arbitrary, often influenced by beliefs rather than proven scientific observations.

The emerging field of neurological enhancement highlights the potential of therapies to improve such things as workplace efficacy, attention in school, and overall happiness in personal lives.