Advances in neurological research in recent years have outpaced scientists' expectations and offer hope for some major ailments affecting the brain and the central nervous system, according to a new report issued by the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council.

Testing of drugs to lessen the effects of ALS, popularly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. These drugs are about to go into clinical trials. Researchers have found an animal model - in horses - for this motor neuron disease. Equine ALS appears to affect the animal in much the same way as humans are affected.

Advances in imaging techniques, especially variations of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), were critical in the research, said Michael Walker, executive director of the council's research panel and head of the Division of Stroke and Trauma at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.