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VOLUME 27, ISSUE 2 • JUNE 2023 Full issue »

Course provides practical training in neurophysiology

The first MDS-ES School for Clinical Neurophysiology, organized by Marina de Koning-Tijssen together with Martje van Egmond and Francesca Morgante, took place from March 30 to April 1, 2023, in Groningen, the Netherlands. The school addressed the educational need to provide practical training on a tool that is fundamental not only to complement clinical examination of people with movement disorders, but also to guide certain therapies, such as botulinum toxin.

Forty young neurologists coming from 21 different countries enthusiastically attended the 3-day school, learning about the role of clinical neurophysiology in clinical practice from experts who routinely employ it to reach a diagnosis and optimize treatment.

The course included:

lectures on the basics of electrophysiological techniques and their application in people with jerky movements, tremor and dystonia

live sessions with patients to demonstrate assessment and how to plan electrophysiological testing
hands-on sessions on neurophysiological techniques applied in patients with hyperkinetic movement disorders
workshops on back averaging and coherence analysis

Participants had the opportunity to work in small groups and learn how to plan and interpret electrophysiological testing from the team at University Medical Center Groningen. Dr Jan Willem Elting guided them into the process of signal analysis in respect to back averaging and coherence analysis. Other faculty members included Mark Edwards, Hans Koelman, Tereza Serranová, Anke Snijders, Michele Tinazzi, Madelein van der Stouwe and Fleur van Rootselaar, and the three organizers.

In the evenings, there were more informal meetings including a Pub Quiz on some special aspects of movements disorders, where seven teams of attendees participated with great commitment. It was a great experience and offered a good opportunity to make friends.

The colleagues of the Movement Disorders team and the Clinical Neurophysiology Department of the University Medical Center Groningen have been crucial for the organization and the success of the school. Finally, such an interactive course would have been not possible without the kind participation of many patients who volunteered to be examined.