The 7th EAN Autumn School was held on 29 October – 2 November, and took place for the first time in the beautiful city of Vienna, Austria. The EAN was delighted to welcome 64 participants the capital of Austria from 22 countries: Albania, Armenia, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Moldova, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
We would like to express our thanks to the fantastic faculty, coming from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Poland, and Portugal
The programme for 2025 covered the following:
Day 1 – A practical approach to seizure semiology
Day 2 – Visual loss
Day 3 – Neuropathic Pain
On the first day, Andreas Schulze-Bonhage (Freiburg, Germany) started the school lectures with his presentation on ‘Basics: neuro-anatomical representation of epileptic seizures’; Ekaterina Pataraia (Vienna, Austria) talked about ‘EEG correlates of common seizure types’ and Katrien Jansen (Leuven, Belgium) covered ‘Beyond seizures: differential diagnosis of seizure mimics ‘.
The afternoon workshops gave the participants the opportunity to discuss ‘Clinical semiology in epilepsy: localizing the seizure focus through clinical signs ‘, and learn about ‘Presurgical diagnostic approaches in epilepsy’, which was shown with the help of a visiting patient. Another session was ‘Recognizing and managing non-epileptic events in pediatric patients’.
After the lectures were finished, the whole group took a tram to go to the well-known Narrenturm which houses the pathological-anatomical collection. The collection comprises almost 50,000 objects, including medical-historical instruments and it is considered the world’s largest collection of pathological specimens. The guided tour was followed by a relaxed evening with a traditional Austrian dinner.
On day two the speakers addressed different aspects of visual loss: Steffen Hamann (Copenhagen, Denmark) held the presentation ‘Clinical examination and practical hints’, Gabriel Bsteh (Vienna, Austria) focused on ‘Differential diagnosis in acute visual loss’ and Carolina Bruxelas (Lisbon, Portugal) informed participants about ‘Visual symptoms beyond acute onset’.
During the afternoon workshops, the participants discussed the most interesting cases in the clinical experience of the faculty: ‘Visual loss: is it the eyes or is it the brain? Practical tips and tricks for finding out’ and ‘Perspectives on persistent visual deficits, what to expect and what can be done’.
In the evening, participants were treated to a ‘Scientific Dinner’, which kicked off with a presentation by Lukas Gattermeyer-Kell (Graz, Austria), covering the possibilities for junior neurologists as EAN Resident and Research Fellow Section members (RRFS) and the opportunities in education, research and career development.
While enjoying a nice three-course meal, the attendees took part in a fun and educational quiz, testing their knowledge of neurology, Austria, and the EAN.
On the third and final day, symptoms of neuropathic pain were covered by the faculty. Anna Szewczyk (Lublin, Poland) started with a lecture on ‘A systematic approach to neuropathic pain assessment’; Jan Rosner (Aarhus, Denmark) presented ‘Neuropathic pain syndromes’; and Nenad Mitrovic (Vöcklabruck, Austria) talked about ‘Neuropathic pain treatment’.
In the afternoon workshops the participants again had the chance to take part in interactive discussions on ‘Neuropathic pain treatment – practical workshop’, while also listening to a visiting patient; the cryptically titled ‘This is a burning problem’; and ‘Diagnostic (un)certainty in neuropathic pain.
After a successful exam, the participants received their certificates of attendance and celebrated their success at a relaxed farewell reception. We even had two participants who passed the exam with 100% who received our brain health poster as a gift.
We cordially thank all our speakers for joining us and hope all participants made the most of the opportunity to learn and network with colleagues and the faculty. We look forward to seeing all of you again soon at future EAN events.
If you are interested in participating in one of the EAN Schools, you now have the opportunity to apply for the next EAN Spring School in April/May 2026. Application opens on 1 December and the deadline for applications is 31 January 2026. More information can be found on our website.
