Neurosurgery is the surgical discipline focused on treating those central, peripheral nervous system and spinal column diseases amenable to surgical intervention.

Modern neurosurgery has benefited greatly from advances in computer assisted imaging (computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), magnetoencephalography (MEG)) and the development of stereotactic surgery. Some neurosurgical procedures even involve the use of MRI and functional MRI intraoperatively. As one of the most research-oriented specialties of medicine, the scope of neurosurgery has expanded as new diagnostic techniques allow surgeons to perform more complicated surgeries. Some of the most recent and innovative advances have been radiosurgery using the gamma knife for tumor treatment and endovascular surgery for the clipping of aneurysms.