9th World Congress – from science to society Over 1200 clinicians and therapists from 56 countriesattended the 9th World Congress for Neurorehabilitation(WCNR 2016) in the Convention and Exhibition Centre,Philadelphia, USA. Held in conjunction with the AmericanSociety of Neurorehabilitation, there were over 100 postersand more than 30 exhibitors and sponsoring companies.

The WCNR 2016 theme ‘from science to society’ coveredinspiring innovations in neurorehabilitation and theirsocietal impacts. The programme included pre-CongressWorkshops and ‘Meet the Professor’ breakfast sessions,together with a scientific programme delivered byeminent speakers from around the world covering adiverse range of topics from basic science, epidemiology,diagnosis and imaging to treatment.

In addition, many of the WFNR Special Interest Groupmeetings took place concurrently.

The WFNR would like to thank all the sponsors of WCNR2016 including Ipsen, Merz Neurosciences and Tree of Life.

WFNR News 2

Highlights from the Key Note Lectures 3

Round-up of Key Note Lectures 5

Congress Overview 7

Diary Dates 10IN t

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WCNR 2016J u N e 2 0 1 6

John Donoghue deliversthe 4th Michael PBarnes Lecture

The prestigious 4th Michael PBarnes Lecture was delivered byJohn Donoghue, the Henry MerrittWriston Professor of Neuroscienceand Director of the Brown Institutefor Brain Science at BrownUniversity, USA. Dr Donoghue is a

neuroscientist, known for his pioneering work in the fieldof human brain computer interfaces, as well as forresearch on brain function and plasticity. For more on hispresentation about the promise and reality ofneurotechnology in restoring lost function, see page 3.

Opening ceremony

In his welcome andintroduction to the 9th WorldCongress, Michael Selzer,Congress President said:“Welcome to Philadelphia -this is a great place to behosting a medical conference”.Dr Selzer thanked theorganising team includingTracey Mole, WFNR ExecutiveDirector and Kenes.

George Wittenberg, President of the American Society ofNeurorehabilitation also welcomed delegates: “I hope youhave a productive meeting here”.

Stephanie Clarke, WFNR President said: “On behalf of theWFNR we are delighted to be here in Philadelphia. Ourorganisation continues to grow and now has over 4000members, 34 Special Interest groups and 37 NationalSocieties. The programme over the next few days reflectsthe diversity of neurorehabilitation and its interdisciplinaryapproach.” Dr Clarke thanked the Local OrganisingCommittee, the Scientific Programme Committee underthe excellent leadership of Volker Homberg, Presidiumcolleagues and Tracey Mole, WFNR Executive Director.She continued: “My thanks also go to the sponsors andexhibitors who have contributed towards this meeting”.

Larry Kaiser, Dean and CEO of Temple University HealthSystem said: “This city has a celebrated role in Americanneurology and is a fitting site for this Congress. Here’s toa stimulating, productive and pleasurable conference”.

City Representative, Sheila Hess also enthusiasticallywelcomed delegates. “I’m Philadelphia’s biggest fan and Ihope you all find time to enjoy the city”.

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WFNR News

New WFNRPresident …

Leonard Li was elected the newWFNR President at WCNR 2016.

Dr Li is currently the Head ofRehabilitation Division at theUniversity Department ofMedicine of Tung Wah Hospital.He is also the Honorary ClinicalProfessor at the Department ofMedicine of the University ofHong Kong, Adjunct Professor at

the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences of Hong KongPolytechnic University and Visiting Professor at theDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine of 1st AffiliatedHospital of Sun Yat-san University.

Stephanie Clarke will continue on the Presidium as Past President.

… and new President elect

The appointment of David Good (USA) as the new PresidentElect was announced at the WFNR Assembly.

Dr Good who is Professor and Chair of Neurology at PennState Milton S. Hershey Medical Centre, Penn State Collegeof Medicine said: “I’m honoured - this is a great and trulyinternational organisation with great leadership and I lookforward to working with the Presidium on behalf of themembership. Thank you very much”.

Wuwei Feng receives the WFNR FranzGerstenbrand Award

Stephanie Clarke, WFNR President presented the 2015WFNR Franz Gerstenbrand Award at WCNR 2016 toWuwei Feng, Assistant Professor at the MedicalUniversity of South Carolina, USA. “The standard of theentries this year was outstanding and demonstrated thebreadth of work in our field but congratulations go toDr Feng” said Dr Clarke.

Entries for the Award came from around the worldincluding Australia, Italy, Iran, Spain and the USA. Inaccepting the Award, Dr Feng outlined his project whichfocussed on motor impairment and how accurate

predictions can be made aboutmotor outcome and recoverypotential following stroke. Dr Fengused the Upper-Extremity Fugl-Meyer (UE-FM) Scale to measurethe motor impairment in the acutephase and at three months, in 76patients in a two-cohort study. Aweighted CST lesion load (wCST-LL)was calculated by overlaying thepatient’s lesion map on MRI with aprobabilistic CST constructed from

age-matched healthy control subjects. The wCST-LLcould effectively predict post-stroke motor outcomes atthree months in both cohorts, especially in patients withsevere impairment at baseline. This tool only requires aclinical MRI scan which gives it an advantage over othermethods, and its use means that patients and theirfamilies can be better informed about motor recoveryprognosis.

Constitution is revised

The Presidium proposed three minor changes to theWFNR Constitution and all were unanimously agreed bythe members at the WFNR Assembly which took place inPhiladelphia.

The changes included adding three ‘Members at Large’ tothe Presidium who will be non-voting positions. Inaddition, Presidents, rather than delegates, of theNeurorehabilitation Federations will be members of theFederation Council and a new category of AffiliatedOrganisations will be added to the Constitution.

Members at Largeappointed

Caterina Pistarini (Italy), JorgeHernandez Franco (Mexico) and Nam-Jong Paik (SouthKorea) were all appointed to the newly-established ‘Members at Large’ positionswithin the WFNR.

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highlights from the Key Note Lectures

The human brain remains one of the major frontiers inscience. With nearly 100 billion neurons and 100 trillionconnections, the brain is one of the greatest challengesin medicine. Many neurological conditions such asAcquired Brain Injury, stroke and Alzheimer’s diseasehave a huge toll on individuals, families and society.Despite the many advances in neuroscience theunderlying causes of many neurological conditionsremains largely unknown, due to the vast complexity ofthe human brain. In order to develop effective ways ofhelping people suffering from these devastatingconditions, researchers need a more complete arsenal oftools and information for understanding how the brainfunctions both in health and disease.

The theme for WCNR 2016 was ‘From science tosociety’ and delegates listened to a plethora of lecturescovering inspiring innovations in neurorehabilitation andtheir societal impacts.

Neurotechnology – new tools on thehorizon

“Neurotechnology is the new kid on the block” said JohnDonoghue (USA), in his introduction to the Michael PBarnes Lecture. “We’re putting technology to work tohelp the nervous system in two ways – usingneurostimulation and sensory replacement to improvepeoples’ lives after brain injury. New devices will cometogether and provide a way to effect function. This is animportant approach for managing rehabilitation andoptimising the nervous system. An exciting set of toolsare coming our way.”

Dr Donoghue has been instrumental in developing‘BrainGate’ over the last decade. The BrainGate researchteam includes leading neurologists, neuroscientists,engineers, computer scientists, neurosurgeons,mathematicians and other researchers who are allfocussed on developing technologies to restorecommunication, mobility and the independence ofpeople with neurological disease, injury or limb loss. Thisdiverse and collaborative team creates and tests thedevices that are ushering in a new era of transformativetechnologies.

Using a baby aspirin-sized array of electrodes implantedinto the brain, early research from the BrainGate teamshowed that neural signals associated with the intent tomove a limb can be ‘decoded’ by a computer in real-time and used to operate external devices. Thisinvestigational system called ‘BrainGate’ has allowedpeople with spinal cord injury, brainstem stroke andAmyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) to control acomputer cursor simply by thinking about the movementof their own paralysed hand.

How does it work? The electrode is implanted in brainwith a plug on the patient’s head. A computer translatesthe subsequent brain activity into movement activity.“This technology isn’t ready for home use yet and there

are many aspects that we don’t fullyunderstand, such as how thedecoding of the brain signal works.But the goal is to useneurotechnology for full restorationof movement and this would beamazing” said Dr Donoghue.

Current research is focussed on notonly improving the ability tooperate a computer, but also onproviding people with ALS, spinal

cord injury and stroke with reliable and constant controlover their environment. The technology may ultimatelyprovide ‘natural’ control over advanced prosthetic limbs,provide people with paralysis easy control over powerfulassistive movement and communication devices, andeventually, enable naturally-controlled movements ofparalysed limbs. The BrainGate team is also developing anew generation of wireless medical technologies that willbe able to record and monitor neural activity to assist inthe diagnosis and management of neurological disease.

BRAIN Initiative revolutionises ourunderstanding

Walter Koroshetz (USA), Director of the National Instituteof Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) discussedthe Brain Research through Advancing InnovativeNeurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative which was originallylaunched in 2014 by USA President Obama.

The BRAIN Initiative is part of a Presidential focus aimedat revolutionising the understanding of the human brain.It is a collaborative research endeavour that will map outneural circuits in the brain, track patterns for electricaland chemical activity within those circuits and determinehow that activity is translated into cognitive functionsand behaviour.

The ultimate goal of the initiative is generating basicneuroscience discoveries that provide a much deeperunderstanding of what makes us human – how we think,feel, make decisions and perceive the world – researchsupported by the initiative will result in the developmentof new therapies for diseases of the brain and nervoussystem.

‘BRAIN 2025: A Scientific Vision’ provides acomprehensive plan for implementing the BRAINInitiative with a proposed budget of approximately $4.5billion over a 12 year time frame.

“The brain figures out in a relatively short period of time

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how to get its function back whichis amazing” said Dr Koroshetz.“Understanding the biology ofrepair is a key area of researchcurrently but in rehabilitation weneed to reorder the circuits”.

NINDS is also looking at basicresearch of the brain, basic researchof diseases and programmes for thedevelopment of products at various

phases. Dr Koroshetz said: “In stroke the pharmacompanies have almost all gone away so we’re trying totranslate our research into commercial products. Beinginvolved in all aspects is a challenge” said Dr Koroshetz.

effect of pain on motor learning –implications for neurorehabilitation

Catherine Mercier (Canada), an occupational therapist atthe Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitationand Social integration in Quebec, looked at themechanisms involved in the effect of pain on motor

learning and the implications forneurorehabilitation. Dr Mercier iswell known for her research onmotor cortex plasticity and how it isaffected by sensory input.

“Although pain is a sensoryphenomenon, pain also drivesaction” said Dr Mercier. Pain isassociated with a lower level ofcommunity integration and isknown to interfere with

rehabilitation following brain injury. Musculoskeletal painis triggered or increased by specific movement and sopatients adapt their movement to protect the injuredstructures. In neuropathic pain (NP) the link betweenpain and movement is much less known or understoodand different strategies are required to control it.

Dr Mercier reported on a study in spinal cord injurywhere 62% of patients reported NP pain on admission,but also on discharge, suggesting that there is noplasticity going on during the period of rehabilitationand that it has no effect on NP.

Dr Mercier commented: “This problem needs to be takeninto account in clinical practice. We need to improve ourunderstanding and include individuals with pain inclinical trials so we can document the effect of pain onmoderate outcomes and the effect of interventions”.

Reality confusion has direconsequences

Armin Schnider (Switzerland) opened the 2nd day ofWCNR2016 to discuss orbitofrontal reality filtering and

the control of behaviour.

“Memory has to be accompanied bythe ability to know what applies tothe present” said Dr Schnider whoseresearch laboratory is part of theDivision of Rehabilitation at theDepartment for ClinicalNeurosciences, University Hospitalof Geneva.

Dr Schnider’s research groupconducts group and case studies of patients withcognitive and neurological dysfunctions after braininjury, as well as studies on cognitive mechanisms inhealthy participants. Its main research topics include themechanisms and rehabilitation of memory disorders inspontaneous confabulation.

Patients with spontaneous confabulation (realityconfusion) confuse time and place and act according tomemories which may have guided their behaviour in thepast, but are inappropriate for ongoing reality.Spontaneous confabulation can be considered a lesionmodel for how the healthy brain adapts thought toongoing reality. Dr Schnider’s team has found that thisability depends on the anterior limbic system,particularly the posterior medial orbitofrontal cortex,which adapts (filters) the cortical representation ofupcoming memories, even before their content is(consciously) recognised and again encoded. His team iscurrently exploring the fine functioning of this filter, itspotential link with the so-called ‘reward’ system andways to treat patients with spontaneous confabulation.

Retinal gene therapy makes the blind see

“Image what it would like living in total blackness?”asked Jean Bennett (USA) in her lecture discussing therehabilitation of vison using retinal gene therapy.

The majority of people fearblindness second to cancer and theprevalence is increasing as theageing population increases. “Thereis hope” said Dr Bennett as shedescribed her research programmeto improve the understanding ofthe molecular basis of, and todevelop therapies for, inheritedretinal degenerations.

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Dr Bennett’s team established the scientific underpinningswhich made it possible to test the first potential definitiveretinal gene therapy treatment for patients with blindingretinal degenerations. Mutations in retinal pigmentepithelium-specific 65 kDa protein (RPE65) are associatedwith recessive blinding disease. Therapeutic RPE65 hasbeen developed and is delivered into the cells that thepatient has left (there has to be cells left in order for theprocedure to work). The necessary ‘wiring’ remains in thevisual pathway despite the patient being blind, which canactivate the visual cortex, so retinal function can bereactivated and/or restored.

A Phase I-II trial, evaluating the safety and efficacy ofgene augmentation for a disease called Leber CongenitalAmaurosis, was initiated in 2007 at the Children’sHospital of Philadelphia, USA. This was the first clinical

gene therapy clinical trial for a non-lethal disease to becarried out in children and the first study to carry outsuccessful re-administration to the second eye. A PhaseIII trial for this disease has been conducted and couldlead shortly to the approval of the first ocular genetherapy drug.

“The results are very exciting and have been submittedto the FDA. If successful this will be the 1st approvedgene therapy in the USA and 1st approved blind therapyin the world” concluded Dr Bennett.

Key Note Lecture Round-up

The main focus of Maurizio Corbetta’s (USA) research at the Attention and Brain Recovery Laboratory in St Louis is to understand how different regions in the brain interact and exchange information to mediatebehaviour in health and neurological disorders. His team is studying the functional organisation of the brainand how this supports cognitive function, specifically attention. They are working on elucidating themechanisms of neurological recovery at the level of large-scale brain systems with the aim of providing asolid foundation for novel interventions.

Jianan Li (China), who in addition to serving as Chief Medical Officer for the Beijing United FamilyRehabilitation Hospital, is the Chair of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) International Disaster ReliefCommittee, discussed the issues surrounding rehabilitation following natural disasters. Dr Li illustrated histalk by discussing the Sichuan earthquake which occurred in 2008 in China resulting in 40,000 people withdisability. Moving patients was fraught, with long distances involved and the range of injury was disparate.Spinal cord injury was responsible for most of the disability and numerous rehabilitation interventions wererequired; many patients had no home to go back to and rehabilitation in the community was a key, butdifficult requirement.

The closing lecture was given by Dr Marta Imamura, the WHO Medical Officer for Disability andRehabilitation and focussed on rehabilitation services in resilient health systems.

Change of venue for WCNR 2018

The 10th World Congress forNeuroRehabilitation will take placefrom the 7th-10th February 2018in Mumbai in India, with the theme‘from neurotechnologies tocommunity care’.

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Congress Overview

Persistent post-concussive symptoms – inconsistencies impede management

In a joint IBIA/WFNR Symposia, Nathan Zasler (USA)introduced the issues surrounding post-concussivesymptoms (PCS) including the inconsistencies in thedefinition, clinical diagnosis and management. “There is alack of consistent nomenclature globally and no evidence-based definition of PCS” said Dr Zasler, “Most clinicians relyon what the patient says and how accurate is that, as somesymptoms may be concussion related but some may not?So many factors impact on recovery”.

Jennie Ponsford (Australia) reviewed the studies looking atthe predictors of PCS. Dr Ponsford said: “For individuals

with a psychiatric history and anxietythen the experience of concussioncreates a higher level of anxiety andthis exacerbates PCS problems. A lotmore work is required on theinterventions for PCS; this is anincredibly complex condition andunless we embrace that complexitywe can’t alleviate the difficulties”.

Grant Iverson (USA) advised that theneurobiological changes associated

with PCS symptoms may persist longer than the clinicalsymptoms. Several factors might contribute fromneurobiology viewpoint including genetics,neurodevelopmental disorders, pre-existing psychiatricand health issues, with acute psychological distress as thebiggest predictor of PCS.

uKROC data shows cost-effectivespecialist rehabilitation

Data from the UK Rehabilitation Outcomes Collaborative(UKROC) was presented by Lynne Turner-Stokes (UK) andreinforced the cost-efficiency of specialist rehabilitation.

The study looked at functionaloutcomes, care needs and the cost-efficiency of specialist rehabilitationfor a multicentre cohort of inpatientswith complex neurological disabilityand compared different diagnosticgroups across three levels ofdependency. Clinical data from 62specialist (Levels 1 and 2)rehabilitation services in England wascollected from the UKROC national

database from 2010–2015. The patients were working-aged adults (16–65 years) with complex neurologicaldisability; 4182 with Acquired Brain Injury, 506 had spinal

cord injury, 282 had peripheral neurological conditionsand 769 had progressive conditions. Outcome measureswere recorded on admission and discharge and allreceived specialist inpatient multidisciplinaryrehabilitation. All groups showed significant reduction independency between admission and discharge on allmeasures. There was also a mean reduction in ‘weeklycare costs’ which was greatest in the high-dependencygroup at £760/week, compared with the medium-dependency at £408/week and low-dependency at£130/week.

Dr Stokes concluded: “The importance of this data is thatthe more dependent patients are often denied rehabilitationbut this was where the greatest gains were found”.

Robotics developmentmoves to the lower limb

Rehabilitation robotics is a growingarea; there are now more than 100groups developing thesetechnologies.

“Robotic tools are now helpingphysicians to deliver therapy and theuse of rehabilitation robotics in

upper limb has a strong evidence base” commentedHerman Igo Krebs (USA).

Robotics is now looking at how these tools can be utilisedto rehabilitate the lower limb, with several early stagerobotic developments in the pipeline.

education as rehabilitation for childrenand young people with Acquired Brain Injury

The International Paediatric Brain Injury Society held asession chaired by Carol Hawley (UK) with Beth Wicks (UK)and Roberta de Pompei (USA) looking at the role ofeducation as rehabilitation for children and young peoplewith Acquired Brain Injury (ABI).

As the child/young person develops, and depending onwhen the brain injury occurs, there will be different effectson the physical, cognitive, psychosocial and academicdomains. “The younger the person at the time of theinjury, the worse the outcome” commented Dr Hawley.The post-injury effect is likened to ripples in a pool – ABIis a chronic health condition with associated ongoing,often life-long symptoms and must be monitored long-term for problems arising post-injury.

Post-injury the child is left with family and school forsupport and rehabilitation. Often teaching personnel arenot trained in ABI and the difficulties that the child has in

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the classroom are often missed or misinterpreted. Ideallya ‘link worker’ is required to assist in the transitionbetween hospital and school, particularly the move fromprimary to secondary school, changes of school, furthereducation and getting into employment.

“It’s so important to take a long-term view for thesechildren because you can’t predict what their potential willbe” said Dr Wicks, “Most children do make progress butat different rates; learning processes are effortful and veryinefficient. There can also be neurocognitive ‘stalls’ whichmakes education support planning difficult and you haveto monitor the child/young person’s progress over time.”

The demands of all education systems rely on those areasthat tend to be impaired in the child with ABI; however alleducators have a tool box of skills and strategies that canbe used.

Dr de Pompei commented:“Education is rehabilitation and sociallearning is equally as important asacademic learning. Languagecapacity is the key to socialcommunication and must be re-taught to children and young peoplewith ABI, as well as social interaction,social cognition, pragmatics andlanguage processing”.

Adapting disease management toinfluence behaviour

Clinicians are focused on diagnosis and treatment andthey approach problems logically; however, patients donot function logically so the communication between thetwo is often misinterpreted.

Michael Weinrich (USA) looked atadapting disease management toinfluence behaviour and the attitudesto self-management. In its simplestform it is important that hospitalpatients are dressed in gym clothesto do their rehabilitation rather thantheir pyjamas. This will facilitatebetter outcomes for the patient andthese effects are ubiquitous. Patientsneed to complete a treatment or

their rehabilitation in a positive fashion. If a patient feelspositive at the end of a rehabilitation session they will bemore motivated to continue. But how often is patientbehaviour and self-motivation considered a keycomponent in the rehabilitation process?

Tessa Hart (USA) looked at theory-driven, technology-enhanced intervention for depression and anxiety inTraumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Behavioural activation (BA)

has been found to be successful for individuals with TBIwho tend to have reduced rates of activity and reducedrates of engagement. BA introduces a positive cycle intothe rehabilitation process thus making the patient feelbetter, which in turn enables them to do more. Dr Hartdescribed a randomised controlled trial, currentlyongoing, comparing BA with a control group. In the BAgroup patients develop 8-10 implementation intentions(good opportunities to carry out desired activities). Thecontrol group selects 8-10 motivational messages. Textmessaging is used over an eight week period to remindthe individuals about the intention or to motivate them.Although there are no qualitative results to date, theresults are looking good for the BA group. Everyone in thestudy has found it positive to receive the messages withthe intention group reporting high positivity.

Jonathan Evans (UK) reinforced the message about therole of ‘happiness and well-being’ and discussed positivepsychotherapy in brain injury rehabilitation.

understanding topographicaldisorientation

Barbara Wilson (UK) chaired a session abouttopographical disorientation (TD), a commonconsequence of ABI and characterised by an inability to navigate the real world.

Classification of topographical disorientation• Egocentric disorientation

• Heading (exocentric) disorientation

• Landmark agnosia

• Anterograde disorientation

The different types of TD were defined originally byGeoffrey Aguirre. In studies done at the Oliver ZangwillCentre for Neuropsychological Rehabilitation inCambridge, UK the team has identified patients thatprovide support for three out of four categories, but notfor heading disorientation.

Jonathan Evans (UK) looked at how patients with TD canbe rehabilitated using strategies including an errorlesslearning approach in a Virtual Reality environment. AnitaRose (UK) described a study of anterograde disorientationin four UK centres where an errorless learning approachwas used and found that it is possible to train braininjured patients and enable them to manage their TD.

Note: Barbara Wilson is looking for patients with

heading disorientation – if you have identified any

patients with this classification of topographical

disorientation, please get in touch with her:

e: barbara.wilson00@gmail.com

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Pre-Congress Workshops

A diverse range of pre-Congress workshops took placeincluding ‘Ethical pitfalls in neurorehabilitation practiceand ‘Medical aspects of fitness to drive’.

“People with a disability may losetheir ability to make decisions,disempowerment occurs and theproblems begin” said Dr SabahatWasti (United Arab Emirates) in hispresentation about the ethicalproblems and issues inneurorehabilitation practice. “Theclinician and treating team has toprevent de-personalisation andmaintain dependence, but within a

framework that the person is used to” said Dr Wasti,“Always assume that the person can make decisions -don’t assume that they can’t”. If the person is makingtheir own decisions then the clinical team must adhere tothem; healthcare providers have a duty to support thepatient in an informed decision.

A key question for a patient with a brain injury patient is‘Are you fit to drive?’. For a patient with a debilitatingcondition i.e. multiple sclerosis, the question is differenti.e. ‘Has the patient reached a point where continuing todrive would be dangerous?’ Most conditions have aspectrum so being prescriptive is difficult.

“We all do things differently fromcountry to country and even withincountries” said Shaun Marshall(Canada) in his introduction to‘Fitness To Drive’ (FTD) advice forpatients with neurological conditions.Carol Hawley (UK) looked at FTD inthe UK, Australia, USA and Canada.The countries all vary but in Canadait is mandatory for the clinician toreport non-FTD otherwise he/she

may lose their license to practice. Generally patients aresupposed to notify the relevant authority if they have amedical condition that means they should not drive.Health professionals can also notify the authority (if thepatient refuses) but generally they have very little trainingand therefore limited FTD knowledge.

Hannes Devos (USA) reviewed several screening andassessment tools and the speakers concluded that there isan urgent need for good guidelines, an accurateassessment tool and health professional training.

sIG meetings

The WFNR has 34 Special Interest Groups (SIGs) many ofwhich held mini-symposia or round table meetings todiscuss their focus in more details.

The Neuropathic Pain SIG organised a session oncomplimentary therapies in the treatment of neuropathicpain. Biofeedback, TENS and acupuncture were discussed by several speakers including Martin Grabois(USA), Witsanu Kumthornthip (Thailand) and MartaImamura (Brazil).

Low cost rehabilitation was the theme of the DevelopingWorld Forum SIG chaired by Nirmal Suriya (India). Thefocus was on running low cost rehabilitation in thedeveloping countries especially local provision andcommunity-based rehabilitation in countries such asAfrica, China, Latin America, Pakistan, and the Philippines.

Industry supported symposia

A Continuing Medical Education symposium, deliveredjointly by Dannemiller and ASiM, covered the optimisationof spasticity diagnosis and management. The participatingfaculty of Katharine Alter (USA), Edward Dabrowski (USA)and Cindy Ivanhoe (USA) used didactic presentations,patient videos and expert discussion to present the latestinformation on the early diagnosis, functional assessmentand the use of pharmacotherapy options for the optimalmanagement of patients with spasticity.

Ipsen’s satellite symposium, chaired by David Simpson(USA), reviewed the use of abobotulinumtoxina for thetreatment of upper limb spasticity in adults.

Dr Simpson also chaired the industry supportedsymposium held by Merz Neurosciences. The focus of thesymposium was upper limb spasticity, its treatment withbotulinum toxin and a review of the AAN guidelines.

Meet the Professor

‘Meet the Professor’ sessions attracted

many delegates throughout the conference

ranging from the challenges facing the

developing countries in developing NR

services, the rehabilitation of patients with

very severe brain injury to a session on

writing for publications.

1 0

For enquiries about WFNR please contact:

Tracey Mole

Executive Director, WFNR

14 Rake House Farm

Rake Lane

North Shields NE29 8EQ

UK

T: +44 (0) 191 2595547

E: traceymole@wfnr.co.uk

15-18 JuNe 2016 summer school Neurorehabilitation

2016 

Greifswald, Germany

W: www.wiko-greifswald.de

11-12 JuLy 2016 13th Neuropsychological

Rehabilitation special Interest Group

of the WFNR

Glasgow, UK

W: www.mers.vpweb.com.au/NR-SIG-

WFNR-Conf.html

15-17 JuLy 2016Asia Pacific stroke Conference

(combined with Stroke Society of

Australasia)

Brisbane, Australia

W: www.apsc2016.com.au

16-19 AuGust 2016XXVII AMLAR Congress

San Pedro Sula, Honduras

W: www.amlar2016.com

18-21 AuGust 2016 15th Asian Oceanian Congress of

Neurology

AOCN2016

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

W: www.aocn2016.com

31st AuGust 2016 - 2NDsePteMBeR 2016 10th International Conference on

Frontotemporal Dementias

Munich, Germany

W: www.icftd2016.de

21-23 sePteMBeR 2016Nordic summer school for

Neurorehabilitation

Falsterbo, Sweden

W: www.hospitalsenhedmidt.dk/

regionshospitalet-hammel/nordisk-

sommerskole-for-neurorehabilitering/

E: Iris.Brunner@uib.no

6-9 OCtOBeR 2016 11th International Congress on

Non-Motor Dysfunction in

Parkinson’s Disease and Related

Disorders

Ljubljana, Slovenia

W: www.nmdpd2016.kenes.com/

13-16 OCtOBeR 2016 3rd Panamerican Congress of

Neurorehabilitation

Bucaramanga, Colombia

W: www.acmfr.org

26-29 OCtOBeR 201610th World stroke Congress

Hyderabad, India

W: www.wsc.kenes.com

7-8 NOVeMBeR 2016 Neurotechnix 2016

Porto, Portugal

W: www.neurotechnix.org

14 NOVeMBeR 20168th uKABIF Annual Conference

Royal Society of Medicine, London

W: www.ukabif.org.uk

1-3 DeCeMBeR 2016 6th Joint Annual Conference of the

German society for

Neurorehabilitation and the German

society for Neurotraumatology and

Clinical Neurorehabilitation

Bonn, Germany

W: www.dgnr-dgnkn-tagung.de

Written and produced by:

Chapter Five

T: +44 (0) 1483 892773

E: lblakeborough@chapterfive.co.uk

Direct Design

T: +44 (0) 1372 466666

E: alastair@dda.co.uk

Diary Dates

New venue

10th World

Congress for

NeuroRehabilitation

Mumbai, India

7-10 FeBRuARy 2018

E: traceymole@wfnr.co.uk