To review and analyze the existing evidence on neurophobia and it’s perceived causes among medical students and practitioners. 

Medical students and practitioners often perceive neurology as the most challenging specialty. In 1994 the term “neurophobia” was defined as “the fear of neural sciences and clinical neurology.” Research has suggested that neurophobia could impact the ability to apply the knowledge of basic sciences to routine clinical practice, therefore compromising the care of patients with neurological disorders; and that it could play a role in choosing neurology as a career option.

Multiple sources (Scielo, PubMed, EMBASE, Medline, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library, MD Consult, ProQuest, EBSCO, ERIC, LILACS, BEI and ISI Web of Knowledge) were used for retrieving studies in English, Spanish and Portuguese that were published between May 1995 and September 2018. Mean scores were determined and ranked from the Likert scale.  A list of perceived causes of neurophobia was identified.

Neurology is perceived as the most difficult medical specialty. Knowledge and clinical confidence in neurology fared poorly when compared with other medical specialties. The main causes were: the need to know basic sciences, deficient teaching, and reduced patient exposure. More research is needed to determine the effects of deficient neuroscience teaching in clinical practice and to identify effective interventions to help develop a new culture of “neurophilia.”