UPMC neurologists provide expert care for patients with a variety of acute and chronic neurological conditions that affect the brain, spinal cord, and nerves.
What Is General Neurology?
General neurology is a medical specialty that focuses on diagnosing, treating, and managing disorders that affect your brain, spinal cord, and nerves. General neurologists offer nonsurgical care and collaborate with neurosurgeons when surgical care is needed.
What General Neurology Conditions Do We Treat?
Our neurology experts provide compassionate, personalized care for neurological disorders including:
- Brain and spinal cord injuries — We care for people with concussions, traumatic brain injuries, and spinal cord injuries.
- Chronic and migraine headaches — We provide comprehensive care for all types of recurring headaches.
- Cognitive impairment — A decline in memory and thinking skills.
- Epilepsy and seizures — A brain disorder that causes repeated, unpredictable seizures, generally beginning in childhood or early adulthood.
- Multiple sclerosis — A progressive autoimmune disorder that occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks the myelin sheath, which covers the nerves in your brain and spinal cord.
- Myasthenia gravis — A chronic autoimmune disease that causes muscle weakness and fatigue.
- Neuropathy — Nerve damage that causes pain, numbness, and tingling.
- Parkinson's disease — A movement disorder that affects the parts of your brain that control body movement (motor function).
- Peripheral nerve disorders — Occur when the nerves that carry information between your spinal cord and the rest of your body are damaged and don’t function properly.
- Sleep disorders and restless legs syndrome — Cause problems with sleep, including restless sleep, sleeping too little, or sleeping too much. Restless legs syndrome causes an irresistible urge to move your legs when resting, often accompanied by sensations such as creeping, crawling, tingling, or aching.
- Spasticity — Causes increased muscle stiffness, tightness, and spasms.
- Stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA) — Occurs when a blockage or bleeding in your brain causes loss of blood flow, damaging brain cells.
- Tremors — Involuntary trembling movements.
- Trigeminal neuralgia — Causes severe, electric shock-like pain in your face.
- Vertigo — A symptom of other health conditions that causes dizziness and makes you feel like you are moving or spinning — or that your surroundings are spinning around you.
Who’s Eligible for General Neurology Services?
You may be eligible for general neurology services if you have symptoms of or are diagnosed with a neurological disorder.
What General Neurology Services Do We Offer?
Our specialists provide individualized neurological care using leading-edge technology and therapies.
We offer a full range of diagnostic tests and treatments for neurological disorders, including:
General neurology diagnostic tests
Diagnostic tests may include:
- Blood tests — Check for abnormalities and rules out other conditions.
- Cerebral spinal fluid analysis (spinal tap or lumbar puncture) — Involves inserting a needle into your lower back to collect a sample of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for analysis in a lab.
- CT scan — Creates images of bones, organs, and tissues inside your body.
- Electroencephalogram (EEG) — Checks for abnormal electrical activity in your brain that may cause seizures.
- Electromyography (EMG) — Sometimes called an electromyogram, an EMG allows a doctor to record and study the electrical activity of your muscles.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) — Creates images of your brain and spine using contrast dye to look for damaged or abnormal areas.
- Magnetoencephalogram (MEG) — Uses magnetic fields produced by electrical signals in your brain to map brain function and diagnose conditions such as epilepsy and tumors.
- Nuclear medicine tests — Include tests such as fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) and dopamine transporter (DAT), which use radioactive materials to diagnose brain abnormalities.
- Neurological examination — A noninvasive test to check your reflexes, balance, movement, memory, and ability to think.
- Neuropsychological examination — Checks your ability to think, reason, and remember.
- Positron emission tomography (PET) scan — Uses a radioactive tracer to create images that are used to diagnose problems with blood flow and other brain abnormalities.
- Skin biopsy — Involves taking a small skin sample to check for abnormal proteins associated with neurodegenerative disorders.
- SPECT — Uses a radioactive tracer to create images of organs, tissues, blood flow, and brain activity.
- Stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) — Also known as stereotactic electroencephalography, phase 2 testing, or brain mapping, SEEG is a minimally invasive surgical procedure used to precisely locate the areas in your brain where epileptic seizures start. It involves placing electrodes directly into your brain to monitor seizure activity.
- Sudomotor testing — Assesses how well your sweat glands work by measuring sweat output.
- Swallowing studies — Determine how well the muscles involved in swallowing are working.
- Video-EEG monitoring — Uses video to record movements and sounds during an EEG exam.
- X-ray — Uses small doses of radiation to create images of your spine.
General neurology treatments
General neurology treatments include:
- Botox injections — We offer Botox injections for chronic migraines and movement disorders.
- Medications — We offer medications to treat a range of conditions, including movement disorders, dementia symptoms, epilepsy, migraine, neuroimmune conditions, neuromuscular disorders, and more.
- Nerve blocks — Nerve blocks in different areas can help treat chronic pain by blocking pain signals to a specific part of your body.
- Surgical consultations — If surgery is needed, we work collaboratively with the neurosurgical team to develop a treatment plan to manage your condition.
What Can I Expect?
At UPMC, our neurology experts provide comprehensive care — including medical management, rehabilitative services, supportive care, and access to advanced clinical trials. Our multidisciplinary team includes neurologists, nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, respiratory therapists, social workers, clinical psychologists, speech and swallowing therapists, and dieticians.
Why Choose UPMC for General Neurology Care?
When you choose UPMC for general neurology care, you will receive:
- Access to expert providers — At UPMC, our team includes board-certified neurologists and specially trained advanced practice providers who diagnose and manage a full range of neurological conditions.
- Comprehensive care — We are committed to helping you manage the physical and emotional aspects of your neurological disorder and go above and beyond to provide comprehensive, patient-centered neurological care. When surgical care is needed, we collaborate with neurosurgeons to develop a personalized treatment plan to help manage your condition.
- Advanced treatment options — We offer the most advanced treatment options and work closely with other health care providers to coordinate your care and connect you with the additional services you need.
By UPMC Editorial Staff. Last reviewed on 2026-04-22.
