News

Leonardo da Vinci produced some of the world’s most iconic art, but historical accounts of his work practices and behaviour show that he struggled to complete projects. Drawing on these accounts, Professor Catani lays out the evidence supporting his hypothesis that, as well as explaining his chronic procrastination, ADHD could have been a factor in Leonardo’s extraordinary creativity and achievements across the arts and sciences. Professor Catani, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s, says: ‘While impossible to make a post-mortem diagnosis for someone who lived 500 years ago, I am confident that...

According to a new study published on April 29 in Neuron, Tel Aviv University researchers identify a homeostatic mechanism that maintains activity set points in neural circuits which ensures the return to a set point after each event that increases or decreases brain activity. The research has raised potential implications for development of drugs to manage a range of neurological and neurodegenerative conditions including epilepsy. Research for the study was conducted by TAU PhD students Boaz Styr and Daniel Zarhin from Prof. Slutsky's team and PhD student Nir Gonen under the joint supervision of Prof. Slutsky...

The ICNA Future Leaders Programme was launched at the Amsterdam ICNC in May 2016. The programme constituted a way forward to provide support for child neurology trainees and young child neurologists from across the world. The key objectives of the programme were to support training, promote educational activities and foster research in child neurology. There was an overwhelming response to call for nominations from members and a Future Leaders of ICNA (FLICNA) committee was selected from eligible members. The next step would see the elections to the chair of the committee. Nominations were invited recently...

Scientists at the University of Southern California (USC), Queen's University (Ontario) and Duke University publishing in Frontiers in Neurology describe a new tool that can screen children for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) quickly and affordably, making it accessible to more children in remote locations worldwide. The tool uses a camera and computer vision to record patterns in children's eye movements as they watch multiple one-minute videos, or look towards/away from a target, and then identifies patterns that contrast to recorded eye movements by other children who watched the same videos or targets. The eye movements...

It is with the deepest sorrow that I announce our much loved ICNA Executive Board member and highly esteemed friend and colleague, Dr. Linda De Meirleir, passed away Oct. 31, 2018, after a long and courageous battle with illness. She was born in Antwerp, Belgium, March 13th, 1954 and was happily married to Jacques, with two children, Laura and Ben. Dr. De Meirleir obtained her medical degree at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels in 1979. She became a specialist in Neuropsychiatry in 1984 and Paediatric Neurology in 1997. From 1984 – 1985 she was...

Professor Hermann Doose, whose name is entwined with Myoclonic Astatic Epilepsy otherwise known as “Doose Syndrome” passed away on April 23rd, 2018 following a brief illness. He was 90yrs old. Professor Doose was a founding member of the neuropediatric society in Germany.Hermann Doose was born on September 1927 in Lübeck, North Germany. His father was a surgeon and mother a gynaecologist. At the age of 16 he was recruited to the army during the last year of the war. A subsequent injury and admission to hospital resulted in him being the lone survivor of the group. ...

In a new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine the researchers, comparing two doses of Cannabidiol (CBD) to a placebo, reported a 41.9 percent reduction in "drop seizures" in patients taking a 20 mg/kg/d Cannabidiol (CBD) regimen, a 37.2 percent reduction in those on a 10 mg/kg/d Cannabidiol (CBD) regimen, and a 17.2 percent reduction in a group given a placebo. The phase III trial was led by principal investigator and study first co-author Orrin Devinsky, MD, a professor of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine and director of NYU Langone's...

The congress offers a comprehensive discipline by way of the various types of sessions and diverse range of topics. The education and scientific program of the congress will highlight state-of-the-art clinical practice, recent advances, uptodate research and workshops on key topics for the practising neurologist.  Read More

Voting for the ICNA Secretary and Treasurer positions and to the Executive Board was held from 03 April 2018 to 03 May 2018 2400 GMT. All eligible ICNA members were provided with a security code following validation of which, they were able to cast their votes on an online ballot. All active members of the ICNA were eligible to vote in this election. Associate and Junior(trainee) members were not eligible to vote according to the ICNA constitution and bye laws. Members were requested to cast their votes for the following positions in the International Child Neurology Association: Secretary (Select one candidate) Treasurer (Select...

Natalio Fejerman, leading Argentine child neurologist and epileptologist, died on Thursday, March 29, after a short sickbed. He was 84 years old.  Natalio Fejerman was born in Buenos Aires on November 8th, 1933. He earned his medical degree from Medical School in Buenos Aires in 1957 and started his professional training at the Children's Hospital Ricardo Gutierrez in Buenos Aires and later at Boston Children's Hospital under...