Limbic encephalitis was initially reported as a paraneoplastic manifestation of cancer. For many years it was thought that the disorder was extremely rare, invariably associated with cancer, and unresponsive to treatment. In the mid 1980s and 90s, the discovery of antineuronal antibodies (Hu, CV2/CRMP5, Ma2, amphiphysin, among others) reinforced some of these concepts by facilitating the identification of a subgroup of encephalitis in which the accompanying T-cell mechanisms are difficult to treat.