Professor Lance is noted for his contributions to neurology particularly in respect to disorders of the motor system and headache mechanisms. His specific attainments include the elucidation of the nature of myoclonus and akinetic attacks in epilepsy, the nature of the cogwheel phenomenon in Parkinson's Disease, the mechanism of reflex irradiation in spasticity and the description and investigation of the tonic vibration reflex that has led to a completely new method for investigating normal and disordered motor control. His contributions to our understanding of headache mechanisms include studies of vasoactive amines, hormones and prostaglandins in migraine. His monographs on the mechanism and management of headache, incorporating his own original contributions, have had a wide influence, being translated into French, Italian, Portuguese and Japanese.