This book focuses on the important relationship between the heart and brain in medical practice. The brain and nervous system may cause or influence heart disease, for instance by causing arrhythmias or modifying the response to ischemia. Disorders of the heart and circulation may in turn cause brain damage, for instance by releasing emboli resulting in cerebral infarction. Frequently, the brain and heart are both targets of the same disease process. They both have electrophysiologically active cells, and the responses to these cells to disease and various interventions have several similarities. Many drugs affect both organs and have mutual negative side-effects. With the increasing subspecialization in medicine, it is important to offer a work that integrates basic and clinical aspects of cardiology, neurology, cerebrovascular surgery and neurosurgery. This cross-fertilization of subject areas will broaden horizons and advance both understanding and practice.