The Times They Are a-Changin’… indeed they were and they are now. Come to think of it, they have always been with diseases and the medical science is also part of this continuum. And ‘though there may be nothing new under the sun, the permutations of everything there is are practically endless. Topical knowledge at one time may have lost its immediate relevance at a later one. But when corresponding data points from different times and places are connected, a picture that would otherwise evade us may emerge.

At its core, epidemiology is a simple discipline that counts people. To some, it may also appear to be dull, theoretic and of, at best, limited relevance. At a glance, this might seem mostly true. But with a closer look, an endeavour to uncover the roots of diseases is revealed. Associating time, place, and demographics over the long term with such simple metrics as incidence, prevalence, and survival enables analyses that yield testable hypotheses about the origins of ailments and the roles genes, the environment, time, and their interaction play in them.

This is a call to join the dots far and wide over space and time in order to reveal these conjectures. This special issue is open to all scientifically meaningful work concerning neuroepidemiology, but particularly to reports that a) open new avenues to previously epidemiologically unknown eras and areas of the globe; b) present original data over decades or lifetimes; c) review and amalgamate knowledge over countries, continents, and epochs. Data validity is greatly preferred over size.

Keywords: Age, area, genetics, environmental factors, epidemiology, incidence, prevalence, mortality, period, prognosis, standardization, survival, time, trend