Scientific Programme - Programme by Category

Main topics / Treatment / Adult Epileptology / Paediatric Epileptology / Basic Science / Diagnostic Issues / 
Chairs Symposium

MAIN TOPICS

Advances in techniques to delineate the epileptogenic zone
Christoph Baumgartner (Austria)  / Andreas  Schulze-Bonhage (Germany), Chairs

Hemodynamic correlates of epileptic activity using fMRI and their potential clinical role
Louis Lemieux (UK)

Spectroscopic imaging in presurgical evaluation of  epilepsy patients
Pavel Krsek (Czech Republic)

Approaches to focus localization using modern PET tracers
Philippe Ryvlin (France)

Identification of superficial and deep sources of epileptic activity by magnetoencephalography
Andreas Ioannides (Cyprus)

From single cell  recordings to high  frequency oscillations: novel indicators of  epileptogenicity
Julia Jacobs (Germany)

AED development, selection and use relevant to gender and age
Martin Brodie (UK)  / Torbjorn Tomson (Sweden), Chairs

Clinical Trials of  AEDs: new  EMEA guidelines vs. clinical needs in different age groups
Michel Baulac (France)

Towards a syndrome-based AED selection in children
Thanos Covanis  (Greece)

AED selection and use in women of  childbearing potential
Jim Morrow (UK)

AED selection and use in the  elderly: pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic considerations
Emilio Perucca (Italy)

Idiosyncratic adverse effects: are they age-dependent and if so  why?
Munir Pirmohamed (UK)

Challenging the concept of idiopathic epilepsies
Michalis Koutroumanidis (UK), Chair

Clinical EEG (ictal – interictal) evidence
Renzo Guerrini (Italy)

Evidence from  analysis of  clinical seizures and interictal findings with advanced neurophysiological and neuroimaging techniques
Vasilios K. Kimiskidis (Greece)

Mechanisms of their dependence on arousal level
Peter Halasz (Hungary)

In search of  a satisfactory terminology (taxonomic implications)
Peter Wolf (Denmark)

Predicting epileptogenesis: how far are we from reaching the goal?
Marco de Curtis (Italy), Chair

Predictors and biomarkers, definitions and general concepts
Simon Shorvon (UK)

Neurobiological markers of epileptogenesis
Asla Pitkanen (Finland)

Practical benefits of  predicting epileptogenesis: when  and how biomarkers can  be  helpful
Jerome  Engel (USA)

Biological and clinical predictors of pharmacoresistance
Yitzak Schiller (Israel)

TREATMENT

Discussion Group
Generic products of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs):  is it an  issue?
Svein Johannessen (Norway), Chairs

Update on regulatory process in approving generic products
Panos Macheras (Greece)

Generic AEDs: pros
Svein Johannessen (Norway)

Generic AEDs: cons
Günter Krämer (Switzerland)

Generic products of AEDs: let’s separate the science from the politics
Meir Bialer (Israel)

Discussion Group
Valproic Acid (VPA) an old and established antiepileptic drug that keeps surprising
Emilio Perucca (Italy), Chair

The role of histone deacetylase (HDAC) in VPA efficacy and teratogenicity
Wolfgang Löscher  (Germany)

VPA and cognitive decline: adverse effects vs. therapeutic potential in Alzheimer’s disease
Bjorn Holmberg (Sweden)

A re-appraisal of VPA drug interactions and implications for its use in novel  potential indications
Graeme Sills (UK)

How can we develop a successful second generation to VPA drug?
Meir Bialer (Israel)

Workshop
The  multiple challenges of insular epilepsy
Stefano Francione (Italy) / Eugen Trinka (Austria), Chairs

Seizures originating in the insula: the  great electro-clinical mimicker
Philippe Ryvlin (France)

Invasive investigation of  the insula: methodology and results from  stimulation
Philippe Kahane (France)

Surgical approaches to insular epilepsy
Alain Bouthillier (Canada)

Workshop
Patient management in epilepsy surgery failure
Margitta Seeck (Switzerland), Chair

What is an epilepsy surgical failure in adults?
Bernhard Steinhoff (Germany)

What is an epilepsy surgical failure in children?
Onno Van Nieuwenhuizen (Netherlands)

Pharmacological and vagal nerve stimulation in epilepsy surgery failure
Edouard Hirsh (France)

Re-operation in epilepsy surgery failure
Stefano Francione (Italy)

Teaching Session
Brain stimulation for epilepsy: current status and future prospects
Demetrios Velis (Netherlands), Chair

Vagal-nerve stimulation: state-of-the-art
Richard Selway (UK)

Transcranial magnetic stimulation: diagnostic and therapeutic aspects
Vasilios K. Kimiskidis (Greece)

Deep brain stimulation and emerging neurostimulation paradigms (direct cortical and closed-loop stimulation)
Demetrios Velis (Netherlands)

ADULT EPILEPTOLOGY

Discussion Group
Acute symptomatic seizures: risk factors or symptom of epilepsy?
Ettore Beghi (Italy), Chair

Basic mechanisms of acute symptomatic seizures
Marco de Curtis (Italy)

Acute  symptomatic seizures and underlying brain injury: epidemiological criteria for causation
Josemir W. Sander (UK)

Acute symptomatic seizures: risk  factors for epilepsy?
Ettore Beghi (Italy)

Is the concept of acute symptomatic seizures valid?
Simon Shorvon (UK)

Discussion Group
Interpreting ictal semiology: localizing automatisms or emergence of inborn behaviours?
Carlo Alberto Tassinari (Italy), Chair

Gestural and oral automatisms
Cigdem Ozkara (Turkey)

The spectrum of complex motor behaviors
Elena Gardella (Italy)

Age-dependent seizure semiology
Hans Holthausen (Germany)

An ethological perspective of  ictal  automatisms as “fixed  action patterns”
Carlo Alberto Tassinari (Italy)

Discussion Group
Recent advances in SUDEP
Paolo Tinuper (Italy) / Hermann Stefan  (Germany), Chairs

Update on incidence and risk  factors
Lina Nashef (UK)

SUDEP mechanisms: lessons from  experimental studies
Rüdiger Köhling  (Germany)

SUDEP mechanisms: insights from  MORTEMUS
Philippe Ryvlin (France)

What next? Proposal for a prospective European study (MORTEMUS II)
Torbjørn Tomson (Sweden)

Discussion Group 
Controversies in IGE
Simon Shorvon (UK), Chair

Syndromes in development and decline
Edouard Hirsh (France)/ Matthew Walker (UK)

Paediatric and adult epileptology vantage points of  IGEs: how different are  they  and how can they merge?
Olivier Dulac (France) / Alexis Agathonikou (Greece)

Workshop
Is cognitive disturbances and epileptiform activity at night related?
Pal Gunnar Larson (Norway), Chair

Cognitive disturbances including autism in patients with continuous spike wave during slow  sleep (CSWS)
Thierry Deonna  (Switzerland)

Nocturnal epileptiform activity in patients with ADHD
Rosalia Silvestri (Italy)

Is the  epileptform activity the reason for cognitive impairment or only an  epiphenomenon?
Gregory Holmes (USA)

Treatment of  cognitive disturbances in patients with CSWS
Orvar Eeg-Olofsson (Sweden)

Teaching Session
Frontal lobe seizures - From basic mechanisms to semiology and therapeutic approach
Antonio Martins Da Silva (Portugal), Chair

Frontal lobe  and epileptic seizures: basic mechanisms
Fernando Lopes Da Silva (Netherlands)

Frontal lobe: seizures semiology and seizures origin
Patrick Chauvel  (France)

Frontal lobe  seizures and sleep behaviour events
Raffaele Manni (Italy)

Frontal lobe  seizures: therapeutic approaches
Christian Elger (Germany)

Teaching Session
Seizure, arousal or parasomnia? A road map into  the borderlands
Walter Van Emde Boas (Netherlands),  Chair

Seizure and arousal: egg  or chicken?
Anna Kelemen (Hungary)

Seizure, arousal or parasomnia: how best to ruin  a good night’s sleep
Al De Weerd (Netherlands)

Seizure or arousal; will time tell?
Walter Van Emde Boas (Netherlands)

Seizure, arousal or parasomnia: is there truth in depth?
Lino Nobili (Italy)

PAEDIATRIC EPILEPTOLOGY

Discussion Group
Paediatric epilepsy surgery: state of the art on special syndromes
Helen Cross (UK), Chair

Rasmussen’s encephalitis
Christian Bien (Germany)

Hypothalamic hamartomas
Olivier Delalande (France)

Sturge-Weber syndrome
Alexis Arzimanoglou (France)

Tuberous sclerosis
Onno Van Nieuwenhuizen (Netherlands)

Discussion Group
The  boundary between focal and generalised idiopathic paediatric epilepsies
Federico Vigevano (Italy), Chair

Generalized aspects in idiopathic focal epilepsies
Lucia Fusco (Italy)

Focal  aspects in idiopathic generalized epilepsies
Colin Ferrie (UK)

The  concept of  age-dependent hyperexcitability
Solomon L. Moshe  (USA)

How our  therapeutic approach will change?
Pierre Genton  (France)

Discussion Group
Idiopathic childhood “focal” seizure susceptibility
Colin Ferrie (UK), Chair

Clinical aspects and genetics
John Livingston (UK)

EEG aspects (including MEG) and relevance to pathophysiology
Salvatore Grosso (Italy)

Principles of management and treatment (acute early  phase - follow up)
Thanos Covanis (Greece)

Psychosocial aspects, parental reactions and needs
Thalia Valeta (Greece)

Discussion Group
New insight into epilepsy management in children: proposed by the European Paediatric Neurology Society 
Alexis Arzinoglou (France) / Sotiris Youroukos (Greece), Chairs

Epilepsy as a presentation of neuro-metabolic disorders
Nicole Wolf (Netherlands)

Epilepsy as a presentation of autoimmune diseases
Angela Vincent (UK)

Genetic insights to early onset epileptic encephalopathies
Nadia Bahi Buisson (France)

Focal epilepsies with generalized manifestations
Helen Cross (UK)

Workshop
Absence seizures and absence epilepsies across the ages: electroclinical correlation
Nebojsa Jovic (Serbia)  / Marina Nikanorova  (Denmark), Chairs

Absence seizures and syndromes variability under age of  3 years old
Ulrich Stephani (Germany)

Absence seizures and syndromes variability in childhood and adolescence
Stelios Giannakodimos (Greece)

Absence seizures and syndromes variability in adults
Pierre Genton  (France)

ASE in different syndromes in children and adults
Pierre Thomas (France)

Workshop
Infantile spasms: how  to get rid  of the catastrophy
Solomon L. Moshe  (USA) / Reily Riikonen (Finland), Chairs

Models of  infantile spasms
Aristea Galanopoulou (USA)

Can  the  EEG predict the  outcome?
Tiziana Granata (Italy)

What can we learn from the ARX mutation?
Jeffrey Noebels (USA)

How to treat? Evidence based studies
Andrew Lux (UK)

BASIC SCIENCE

Discussion Group
Epileptic networks and lesions
Hermann Stefan (Germany), Chair

Epileptic networks
Fernando Lopes Da Silva (Netherlands)

Lesion detection by MRI postprocessing
Hans Jürgen Huppertz (Switzerland)

High frequency oscillations (HFO) and epileptic activity
Stefan Rampp (Germany)

Networks and surgical treatment
Patrick Chauvel (France)

Discussion Group
Seizure prediction in epilepsy: from modeling to seizure prevention
Björn Schelter (Germany), Chair

From EEG signals recorded in human partial epilepsies to dynamic transitions in brain activity: insights from computational models
Fabrice Wendling (France)

Recent advances in seizure prediction
Hinnerk Feldwisch (Germany)

Can the micro-electrodes recordings improve the seizure prediction strategies?
Vincent Navarro (France)

Electrical stimulation of the seizure focus
Paul Boon (Belgium)

Discussion Group
Clinical and Basic concepts of IGE revisited
George Kostopoulos (Greece), Chair

Is absence epilepsy trully generalized?
Gilles Van Luijtelaar (Netherlands)

Are absence and limbic seizures mutually exclusive?
Filiz Onat (Turkey)

Idiopathic absence and symptomatic focal epilepsy syndromes in humans; the clinical evidence
Robert Elwes (UK)

Channelopathies as a genetic cause for epilepsy. The relation to idiopathy
Giuliano Avanzini (Italy)

Discussion Group
Structural genomic variation in human seizure disorders: emerging themes in epilepsy genetics
Peter De Jonghe (Belgium), Chair

Listen to your  genome and talk to your patients: the architecture of the human genome and the challenges of phenotyping
Ingo Helbig (Germany)

State of the art - epilepsies as comorbidities in classical microdeletion syndromes
Rikke Steensbjerre Moller (Denmark)

An underrecognised source of genetic morbidity: microdeletions and microduplications in idiopathic epilepsy syndromes
Federico Zara (Italy)

A glimpse at the  future - analysis of genome-wide copy number variations in large datasets and the  question of  pathogenicity
Carolien De Kovel (Netherlands)

Discussion Group
New developments in K+-channel involvement in epilepsy
Rüdiger Köhling  (Germany), Chair

Axonal KCNQ-channels regulate neuronal excitability and synaptic transmission
Johan Storm (Norway)

Atypical gating of  KCNQ-channels in BNFC
Maurizio Taglialatela (Italy)

Critical reduction of SK-channels in a model of  TLE
Timo Kirschstein (Germany)

K+-buffering via Kir channels is reduced in seizure-induced blood-brain-barrier disruption
Alon Friedman  (Israel)

Discussion Group
Funding of epilepsy research in Europe 
Meir Bialer (Israel) / Asla Pitkanen (Finland), Chairs

EU funding instruments
Patrizia Tosetti (Belgium)

Industry as a partner of EU research funding for epilepsy
Reijo Salonen (Finland)

How can patient organizations support epilepsy research in Europe?
Thanos Covanis (Greece)

Special Symposium 
The Neurobiology Symposium - Epilepsy, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and the temporal Lobe
Jeffrey Noebels (USA) / Astrid Nehlig (France)

Links between Alzheimer's disease/dementia and epilepsy
Michel Poncet (France)

Mechanisms and alterations in neuronal pathways and memory processing in Alzheimer's disease
Lennart Mucke (USA)

What can animal models teach us about brain excitability?
Heikki Tanila (Finland) 

Workshop
Endogenous anticonvulsive mechanisms activated by seizures
Günther Sperk (Austria), Chair

Tonic inhibition in epilepsy - the  brain fights back
Matthew Walker (UK)

Dynamic expression of  neuropeptides as endogenous antiepileptic principle
Günther Sperk (Austria)

The endogenous canabinoid system in seizure protection and its  impairment in seizure generation
Zsofia Magloczky (Hungary)

Neurogensis and plasticity: do they reduce exitability?
Merab Kokaia (Sweden)

Workshop
Epileptogenesis: mechanisms and prevention
Christophe Bernard (France), Chair

Epigenetic factor mediate HCN1 channelopathy
Christophe Bernard (France)

T-type calcium channel upregulation as a pro-epileptogenic factor
Albert Becker (Germany)

Preventing epileptogenesis: anti-inflammatory strategy
Anna Maria Vezzani (Italy)

Preventing epileptogenesis: growth factors strategy
Michele Simonato (Italy)

Workshop
Neurobiology of memory dysfunction in temporal lobe epilepsies
Christoph Helmstaedter (Germany), Chair

Functional and anatomical organization of memory formation in the  temporal lobe
Thomas Grunwald (Switzerland)

Hippocampal granule but  not  pyramidal cell loss predicts memory impairment in TLE patients
Elisabeth Pauli (Germany)

The diverse regenerative capacity of the human hippocampus and its impact on  memory formation in TLE patients
Ingmar Blümcke (Germany)

Neurobiology of  adult hippocampal neurogenesis under physiological and pathophysiological conditions
Georg Khun (Sweden)

Teaching Session
New  findings from epilepsy genomics: implications for clinical practice and research
Dick Lindhout (Netherlands), Chair

Genomics and basic mechanisms: new directions
Eric LeGuern  (France)

Genomics – exploring the functional consequences in humans
Sanjay Sisodiya (UK)

Genomics – implications for clinical practice
Renzo Guerrini (Italy)

DIAGNOSTIC ISSUES

Discussion Group
Photosensitivity: from focal abnormality to generalized seizures
Dorothee Kasteleijn-Nolst Trenite (Italy), Chair

Links  between photosensitivity and idiopathic generalized epilepsy
Stefani Ulrich (Germany)

Photosensitivity as a focal epileptic phenomenon
Michael Siniatchkin (Germany)

How to provoke the  generalized photoparoxysmal response in photosensitive subjects?
Jaime Para (Spain)

How to prevent the  local  increase of cortical excitability in photosensitive subjects?
Dorothee Kasteleijn-Nolst Trenite (Italy)
 
Discussion Group
Imaging the connections of the eloquent brain and epileptogenic foci
John Duncan (UK), Chair

Imaging visual pathways in temporal lobe epilepsy surgery
Daniel Nilsson (Sweden)

Connectivity of language and memory circuits in temporal lobe  epilepsy
Mahinda Yogarajah (UK)

Identifying the  connectivity of  the epileptogenic zone
Serge Vulliemoz (Switzerland)

The  future applications of  tractography to defining the  relationship of  eloquent and epileptogenic cortex and to planning surgery
John Duncan (UK)

Discussion Group
EEG and video EEG in IGE and idiopathic focal epilepsies
Stuart Boyd (UK), Chair

Video EEG: diagnostic clues and pitfalls
Pipo Capovilla (Italy) / Pierre Thomas (France)

Non-localizing focal  discharges in IGE: diagnostic challenge and prognostic implications
Jose Luis Fernandez Torre (Spain)

Teaching Session
Interpretating video EEG data in a surgical perspective
Philippe Kahane (France), Chair

Analysis of interictal scalp EEG data in a surgical perspective
Christoph Baumgartner (Austria)

Ictal and postictal clinical signs that reliably lateralize and localize the  epileptogenic zone
Felix Rosenow (Germany)

Significance of the first ictal scalp EEG changes and seizure spread patterns
Laura Tassi (Italy)

Pitfalls and caveats of video EEG findings in children
Helen Cross (UK)
 
Workshop
Mapping brain functions using intracranial electrodes
Christian Elger (Germany), Chair

Mapping the human brain using electrical currents: where are  we today?
George Ojemann (USA)

What evoked potentials tell us on the functional anatomy and connectivity of the  human brain?
Milan Brazdil (Czech Republic)

Dynamic spectral imaging as an online exploratory tool  of  brain functions
Jean Philippe Lachaux  (France)

Do micro-recordings add anything new to what  can  be done using macro-electrodes?
Itzhak Fried (Israel)

Teaching Session
MRI postprocessing in epilepsy
Eugen Trinka (Austria), Chair

Overview of MRI postprocessing techniques in the  presurgical evaluation of  epilepsy patients
Hans Jürgen Huppertz (Switzerland)

Diagnostic value of morphometric MRI analysis in clinical and pre-clinical settings
Jörg Wellmer (Germany)

Automatic detection and quantification of  hippocampal pathology on MRI – results and clinical applications
Alexander Hammers (UK)

Diffusion-based MRI and tractography in epilepsy
Mahinda Yogarajah (UK)

CHAIRS SYMPOSIUM

Chairs Symposium
The paradoxes of the paroxysms - Seizure precipitating factors and underlying mechanisms
George Kostopoulos (Greece) / Michel Baulac (France), Chairs

How do brain synchronization mechanisms promote ictogenensis?
George Buzsaki (USA)

The double face of the GABAergic system in seizure onset
Massimo Avoli  (Canada)

Sleep, arousal and seizures
Lino Nobili (Italy)

Is it a sudden event?
Vincent Navarro (France)