The centenary of Berger’s first recording of the EEG, (on July 6th, 1934) has just passed and represents the beginning of our specialty. I am grateful to Faisal Mushtaq of the University of Leeds, UK for leading a group celebrating this in a paper in print in Nature Human Behaviour. The paper gives the results of a survey of 500 experts from 50 countries, including many from IFCN, which asked how EEG has assisted our understanding of brain function and dysfunction. But the paper did not just look back; he also asked the experts to speculate on how EEG’s utility might develop in the next 100 years. Interesting reading, I hope.
Though not wanting to appear too Eurocentric, and by way of omission encouraging other chapters to submit news, may I draw to your attention to two of the EMEAC ExCo’s latest initiatives? The first is an interactive teaching event called The Digital Hour. The aim is to present keynote lectures from member societies’ current annual meetings, symposia or courses. The first is from a joint Egyptian American Symposium on EEG from basic to advanced given by Professor Aatif Husain in Cairo on 26th July 2023 by the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society and the Clinical Neurophysiology Chapter of the Egyptian Society of Neurology, Psychiatry and Neurosurgery, see https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2PNXBTY. Each link will be active for 30 days after this email announcement date. To receive a certificate, you complete a short survey after the lecture. To submit a proposal or ask a question email Dr. Antonin Gechev, (antoningechev@yahoo.com).
The second was recent EMEAC Teaching Course run by Professor Tankisi in Aarhus, Denmark on peripheral neurophysiology. Though I am aware of teaching courses run by individual member societies which are open to others, in the USA, Japan and the UK, for example, I was not aware of a chapter teaching course. EMEAC plans more of these courses, and other chapters might consider a similar model.
IFCN is reinvigorating its Young Neurophysiology Network and has launched an exploratory survey on educational needs and training/working conditions for the young neurophysiology community. The information we receive will help improve our strategic goals for YNN. If you are under the age of 40 years, please take this short survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7WZT5BZ. It is your chance to have your say and change what we offer you.
IFCN continues to hold Masterclasses highlighting the achievements of some of our most distinguished clinical neurophysiologists talking about their fields of expertise and then being available for a question and answer session. The next Masterclass is on Saturday, July 20th, 2024. Professor David Holder will present on Projecting EEG and Nerve Conduction in 3D with Electrical Impedance Tomography (fnEIT)
To register: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wxuGCWExSSKIXUZJ-nfnsA
IFCN is thrilled to be hosted by the Indonesian Clinical Neurophysiology Society in Jakarta, Indonesia. The plenary lectures are on Nerve Conduction block and safety factor impulse transmission by Satoshi Kuwabara, The Clinical Neurophysiology of Brain Networks; toward and integrated view on brain disease by Kees Stam, while Josep Vall-Sole will present on Voluntary actions and reflex reactions. There will also be two full days of workshops. There is still time to register; https://iccn-2024.com/registration-fees
The General Assembly this year will return to the added excitement of live presentations competing for the ICCN 2028. We had a large number of excellent bids which ExCo has whittled down to three, from the Dutch, Portuguese and Romanian Societies. The first time these will be broadcast on line so member societies can vote immediately afterwards either at the meeting, or on line via a special Zoom account. The result will be announced at the end of the meeting.
Though this makes the letter a bit longer this time, I have no apologies for highlighting our new Fellowship winners in Research and Education. These awards are the results of an arduous selection process by the relevant committees, and the awards are therefore prestigious. It is encouraging that so many applicants have come forward, and that they are studying abroad in order to learn and then take their newfound expertise back to their homes. Congratulations to them (and to all candidates who submitted applications) and thanks to the awarding committees.
Neetha Balaram from India will research Electric Source Imaging in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy with Professor Stepan Rampp, (University of Erlangen, Germany).
Hussein Youssef from Egypt will study the effect of conventional versus individualized transcranial direct current stimulation intensity in persons with multiple sclerosis with Professor Koen Cuypers, (Uhasselt University, Belgium).
Daniel Litewczuk from Italy will research stimulation protocols for selective activation of C-nociceptors with Professor Martin Schmelz, (University of Mannheim, Germany).
Naluca Mwendaweli from Zambia will study clinical epilepsy with Professor Lawrence Tucker, (University of Cape Town, South Africa).
Shahenda Al Menabbaw, from Egypt, will train with Professor Aatif Husain, (Duke University, North Carolina, USA) in advanced epilepsy and EEG, focusing on electrocorticography and invasive EEG.
Sanjib Kumar Shah from Nepal will train under Professor Eman Tawfik and Professor Amal El Ganzoury, (Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt) on neuromuscular ultrasound.
Sepideh Omidbakhsh, from Turkey, will train with Professor Hatice Tankisi, (Aarhus University, Denmark) in EMG and single fibre EMG, and motor unit number estimation (MUNE).
Tahira Zannat from Bangladesh will work with Professor Nortina Shahrizaila, (University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur) on neuromuscular disorders and peripheral neurophysiology.
Aayesha Soni’s award allows her to finish her training at Western University, Canada in the interpretation of video EEG scalp recordings and video Stereo- EEG recordings in pre-surgical and surgical evaluations.. She will take her training back to her home country of South Africa.
Joseph Yaria from Nigeria, one of two African for Africa fellowship recipients for 2024, will training under Professor Mayowa Ojo Owolabi, (Cairo University, Egypt), in electromyography.
Mohamed Mahdaoui, from Morocco, our second African for Africa fellowship winner will study under Professors Tawfik and El Ganzoury, (Ain Shams University in Cairo) in neuromuscular ultrasound.
Daniel Massi from Cameroon will study electroencephalography and clinical epileptology in Mons Kennedy hospital in Belgium.
Isabella Supnet from The Philippines will study nerve ultrasound techniques, electromyography and nerve conduction studies at Radboud University, The Netherlands under Professor Nens van Alfen.
For more details : 2024 IFCN Fellowship Winners
Lastly, at the recent European Academy of Neurology meeting in Helsinki, with 7,000 delegates on site, there was a very well attended session on EEG in neurology. What was novel was that participants loaded their laptops with the EEGs being discussed could then scroll through and alter montages, gains, filters and timescales and so on in real time, due some remarkable software written by Sampsa Lohi from Finland. As he says, acquisition of data in clinical neurophysiology is dynamic, and so should educational materials be. Though further development is required, not least in security, such work promises open access data which has compatibility across many different platforms. Our neurological colleagues were impressed as well they might be.
I finish with our editor-in-chiefs’ picks. I hope you all enjoy a break over the northern hemisphere summer and southern winter and return refreshed for work and hopefully in time for some of us to meet in Jakarta.
Abdullah M. Al-Qudah, Sreeja Sivaguru, Katherine Anetakis, Donald J. Crammond, Jeffrey R. Balzer, Parthasarathy D. Thirumala, Kathirvel Subramaniam, Senthil Sadhasivam, Varun Shandal Role of Intraoperative Electroencephalography in Predicting Postoperative Delirium in Patients Undergoing Cardiovascular Surgeries. Clinical Neurophysiology 2024;164, 40-46.
Postoperative delirium is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. It is a commonly occurrence following cardiovascular surgery and could be related to intraoperative cerebral hypoperfusion. In this volume of Clinical Neurophysiology, Al-Qudah et al. examined intraoperative EEG in more than a thousand patients and showed that changes in intraoperative EEG have high specificity in detecting postoperative delirium, and the risks were higher in those with persistent EEG changes. These findings may lead to changes in intraoperative procedures to reduce the risk of delirium and in postoperative management for early detection and treatment of delirium.
‘Bergmann, Högl and Ambra have put together an excellent review on the neurophysiological aspects of REM parasomnias, including their definition, clinical characteristics and possible neuroanatomical correlates (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnp.2023.10.003). These include recurrent isolated sleep paralysis, nightmare disorder and REM sleep disorder behaviour. The diagnosis of the latter is important since it is often a prodromal symptom of synucleinopathies, a subgroup of neurodegenerative diseases. REM parasomnias are well characterized with video-polysomnographic recordings (required for diagnosis), including electroencephalography (EEG), electrooculography (EOG) and electromyography (EMG) signals – i.e. the full spectrum of clinical neurophysiological tools. It is thanks to these that our knowledge of these parasomnias has improved tremendously over the recent decade, so this review is timely as well as being a wonderful source of knowledge.’
Best wishes,
Jonathan Cole