ICNA The International Child Neurology Association

ICNApedia · Humanities Series

Neurology Through
Art & Time

A Monthly Humanities Initiative · International Child Neurology Association

A monthly platform exploring neurology and medicine as depicted through the visual arts, music, literature, architecture and sculpture — tracing the thematic evolution of our discipline across the ages.

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Upcoming Saturday, March 28, 2026 — Prof. Haluk Topaloglu: Children in Paintings throughout the Ages – Part IV Register →

About the Series

The International Child Neurology Association (ICNA) launched this monthly initiative in February 2023. Each session reviews and discusses a particular subject or theme in neurology as depicted through an artistic medium — inviting speakers and audiences alike to explore how great art has illuminated the emerging concepts, complex patterns, and thematic evolution of medicine through the centuries.

Presentations may choose a specific theme — neurodisability, epilepsy, dystonia, stroke, addiction — and illustrate it through art across multiple media. Alternatively, a single artwork may serve as a lens into a seminal moment in the history of neurology.

Works across painting, sculpture, architecture, archaeology, music, cinema, and poetry are all within our scope. Sessions are held on the last Saturday of each month via Zoom.

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Know an exceptional speaker? Would you like to present? We welcome nominations and self-nominations for the NTAT platform.

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Next Session · March 28, 2026

Children in Paintings throughout the Ages — Part IV

Prof. Haluk Topaloğlu Professor Haluk Topaloğlu Yeditepe University, İstanbul · ICNA NTAT Co-Chair

Professor Topaloğlu graduated from Hacettepe University in 1978 and trained in Child Neurology at the Alberta Children's Hospital, University of Calgary. He received the TÜBİTAK award in 2003 and the Italian Gaetano Conte Prize in 2015 for lifetime contributions to research in muscle diseases. He is currently Faculty in the Department of Pediatrics at Yeditepe University, İstanbul, and serves as Co-Chair of the ICNA Neurology Through Art & Time Committee.


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Session Archive

🕮 All Sessions
February 28, 2026Medical Doctors as Writers
Banu Anlar Dr. Banu Anlar, MDProfessor of Pediatric Neurology, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Türkiye · Former Board Member, EPNS & ICNA
Dr. Anlar graduated from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine as a valedictorian and underwent pediatrics and pediatric neurology training at the same institution. During three decades of academic life she focused on multidisciplinary and multicentric studies in infectious, inflammatory, and demyelinating diseases of the nervous system. She has served on the Board of the Turkish Pediatric Neurology Association, the EPNS, and the ICNA.
January 31, 2026East Indian Classical Music and the Neurosciences
Charuta Joshi Dr. Charuta Joshi & Mahesh KalePediatric Epileptologist, UT Southwestern & National Film Award-winning Indian Classical Vocalist
Dr. Charuta Joshi is a pediatric epileptologist and the Roy D. and Ragen S. Distinguished Chair in Pediatric Epilepsy at Children's Medical Center Dallas, UTSW. She studied Hindustani Classical music from ages 7–17, completing a Sangeet Visharad. Mahesh Kale is an Indian American classical vocalist, winner of India's 63rd National Film Award for Best Playback Singer and disciple of Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki.
November 29, 2025Children in Paintings throughout the Ages – Part III: Schooling and Bonding
Haluk Topaloglu Prof. Dr. Haluk TopaloğluFaculty, Dept. of Pediatrics, Yeditepe University, Ïstanbul · ICNA NTAT Co-Chair
Professor Topaloğlu graduated from Hacettepe University in 1978 and trained in Child Neurology at the Alberta Children's Hospital, University of Calgary. He received the TÜBÏTAK award in 2003 and the Italian Gaetano Conte Prize in 2015 for lifetime contributions to research in muscle diseases.
October 25, 2025Women's and Children's Brain Health through the Visual Arts Lens: Neuroaesthetics from Neolithic Times to Present Day
Mark Scher Dr. Mark ScherEmeritus Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Dr. Scher's training in fetal/neonatal neurology spans from undergraduate studies at the University of Rochester through fellowship training at Stanford. As Division Chief of Pediatric Neurology at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital (1997–2017), he established programs in pediatric neurology, neurocritical care, epilepsy, and sleep. His research has generated 211 peer-reviewed publications and 13 NIH-supported studies.
September 27, 2025Whither Neurohumanities
Michael PH Stanley Dr. Michael P.H. StanleyDirector of Neurocognitive Disorders, Tufts Medical Center
Dr. Stanley received his MD from Tufts, completed adult neurology residency at Mass General Brigham, and a behavioral neurology & neuropsychiatry fellowship at Brigham & Women's Hospital. A writer, poet, editor, critic, and scholar, his pursuits of history, ethics, philosophy, art, letters, music, and film distinguish him as a leader in the neurohumanities.
June 28, 2025Brain and Art: What is Art?
Pinar Aydin Prof. Pinar Aydin O'Dwyer, MD, PhD, FRCS(Glasg)Professor of Ophthalmology and Neuro-ophthalmologist
Prof. Aydin O'Dwyer completed her Ophthalmology training and Neuro-ophthalmology doctorate in Turkey and the USA, and founded the Baskent University Ophthalmology Department in Ankara. She is Honorary Member of the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis, author of ~200 scientific publications, and has two published books: The Book of Ballet (2022) and The Book of Opera (2025).
May 31, 2025Neurology through Period Paintings – Part II: Children in Paintings throughout the Ages
Haluk Topaloglu Prof. Dr. Haluk TopaloğluFaculty, Dept. of Pediatrics, Yeditepe University, Ïstanbul
Continuing the exploration of children as depicted in period paintings across the ages, examining what art reveals about childhood, development, and neurological conditions across history.
April 26, 2025The Mozart Effect in Epilepsy
Natalie Erlich-Malona Dr. Natalie Erlich-MalonaAssistant Professor of Neurology, UMass Chan Medical School; Board-certified Epileptologist
Dr. Erlich-Malona is a board-certified epileptologist at UMass Memorial Medical Center. She received her MD from Tufts and completed neurology residency and epilepsy fellowship at Brown University. Prior to medicine she was a professional pianist trained at the Juilliard School and New England Conservatory, holding a BM and MM in Piano Performance.
March 29, 2025Music and Autism Spectrum Disorder
Prof. Pearl Prof. Phillip L. Pearl, MDDirector of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology, Boston Children's Hospital; William G. Lennox Chair, Harvard Medical School
Phillip L. Pearl, M.D. is Director of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology at Boston Children’s Hospital and William G. Lennox Chair and Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Pearl, originally from Baltimore, attended Johns Hopkins University and Peabody Conservatory of Music and the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He did his residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital. He was Division Chief of Neurology at Children’s National Medical Center and Professor of Neurology, Pediatrics, and Music at the George Washington University School of Medicine until returning to Boston in January 2014. Dr. Pearl also is a faculty member of the Music and Health Institute at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. His major research interest is inherited metabolic epilepsies with a specific focus on disorders of GABA metabolism. Dr. Pearl is Past President of the Professors of Child Neurology and the Child Neurology Society. He has authored over 220 peer-reviewed manuscripts and over 150 chapters and reviews, written or edited five books. He has produced two musical CDs, the first of which had its debut at Georgetown’s famous Blues Alley and supports the care of indigent children in Washington, D.C.
February 22, 2025Neurologic Diseases of Great Painters
Dr. Audrius V. Plioplys Dr. Audrius V. PlioplysNeurologist & Artistic Explorations Researcher
An exploration of neurological conditions that affected some of history's most celebrated painters, and how those conditions may have shaped their artistic output.
January 25, 2025Hidden Figures: Women's Art in Neurology around the Globe
Alison Christy Dr. Alison ChristyClinical Director for Pediatric Neurology, Providence Health & Services; Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Child Neurology
Dr. Christy chairs the History of Neurology Section of the American Academy of Neurology, where her work won the Tyler award (2023) and the Lawrence C. McHenry award (2024). She produces podcasts about women from history for Neurology Minute and co-created the Endowed Chairs card games and Neurdle.com.
November 30, 2024Disability, Doctoring and Patient Care: Poems from a Life in Medicine
Professor David L. Coulter, MD Professor David L. Coulter, MDSenior Staff Neurologist (retired), Boston Children's Hospital; Associate Professor of Neurology (retired), Harvard Medical School
Dr. Coulter retired from Boston Children's Hospital in 2023 after a career focused on neurodevelopmental disabilities, epilepsy, and intellectual disability. He received the National Humanism in Medicine Award from the US Child Neurology Society in 2017, has written six books of poetry, and co-edited Namaste: Humanism in Child Neurology (ICNA, 2021).
September 28, 2024Children’s art in the diagnosis of headache and art therapy in children and adolescents with epilepsy
Professor Carl Stafstrom Professor Carl StafstromProfessor of Neurology and Pediatrics, Lederer Endowed Chair in Pediatric Epilepsy, Haller Professor of Neurological Science, and Director of the Division of Pediatric Neurology at Johns Hopkins
Carl E. Stafstrom, MD, PhD is Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics, Lederer Endowed Chair in Pediatric Epilepsy, Haller Professor of Neurological Science, and Director of the Division of Pediatric Neurology at Johns Hopkins. Prior to his present position, Dr. Stafstrom served as Professor of Neurology & Pediatrics and Chief of the Section of Pediatric Neurology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Stafstrom received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania (Biophysics and English) and MD-PhD from the University of Washington-Seattle. He trained in Pediatrics at Seattle Children’s Hospital and in Pediatric Neurology at Tufts Medical Center, Boston. He then did fellowship training in EEG and Epilepsy at Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Dr. Stafstrom’s clinical and research interests include the mechanisms of epileptogenesis and neuronal excitability in the developing brain, the effects of seizures in the immature brain on subsequent cognitive function and seizure susceptibility, dietary and metabolic approaches to epilepsy management, and children’s self-perceptions of neurologic disorders through art. Dr. Stafstrom is the author of more than 400 research articles, chapters, and commentaries, and editor of 5 books. He has served as associate editor of Epilepsia and chief editor of Epilepsy Currents. A dedicated educator who places high priority on the teaching and mentoring of medical students and residents, Dr. Stafstrom has received more than 25 teaching awards at institutional and national levels; he was the 2012 recipient of the American Neurological Association’s Distinguished Neurology Teacher Award and the 2021 American Epilepsy Society Lifetime Achievement Award.
August 31, 2024Insight into children’s neurological related issues through their drawings – how scientific is it?
Professor David L. Coulter, MD Jo WilmshurstHead of Paediatric Neurology Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital University of Cape Town
Professor Jo Wilmshurst is Head of Paediatric Neurology at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, University of Cape Town, in South Africa. She is past-President of the International Child Neurology Association (2018-2022). She is a member of various Commissions and Task Forces for theInternational League Against Epilepsy as well as Chair of the African Commission (2021-2025). She is a member of the executive board of the Paediatric Neurology and Development Association of Southern Africa and the African Child Neurology Association. She is director of the African Paediatric Fellowship Program – a training program under the auspices of the University of Cape which aims at developing skills in paediatric disciplines of doctors from across Africa. She is an associate editor for Epilepsia, chief editor for the Paediatric Neurology sub-section of Frontiers in Neurology, and an editorial board member for JICNA, Epileptic Disorders, and Seizure. She has over 190 peer reviewed publications. She has interests in rare neurological disorders, such as neuromuscular diseases and neurocutaneous syndromes, and common high impact diseases, such as epilepsy and neuroinfections.
July 27, 2024Neuroanatomical Art and Inventions of Leonardo da Vinci – Part II
Ingrid Tein Dr. Ingrid Tein, BSc, MD, FRCP(C)Chair, ICNA Neurology Through Art & Time Committee
The second instalment examining Leonardo da Vinci's neuroanatomical drawings and what they reveal about Renaissance understanding of the nervous system.
April 27, 2024Cerebral Palsy in Art
Bernard Dan Bernard DanInkendaal Rehabilitation Hospital, Belgium
Dr. Bernard Dan is a child neurologist and rehabilitation physician at Inkendaal Rehabilitation Hospital, Belgium. He is also full professor of neuroscience and developmental psychology at Université Libre de Bruxelles, invited professor at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, and Universiteit Gent, honorary professor at the David Tvildiani Medical University, Doctor Honoris causa of the University of Craiova, member of the Académie royale de Médecine de Belgique, fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London), and Editor-in-Chief of Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology. His main clinical and research interests include cerebral palsy, neurogenetic conditions, and neurophysiology. He is chair of the European Academy of Childhood Disability. He also chairs the scientific committee of the Fondation Paralysie Cérébrale. He has received a number of national and international awards, including the John Stobo Prichard Award (2012) and the Elsass Foundation Research Prize (2019). He has written over 300 journal articles; authored books on childhood disability and Angelman syndrome; co-edited a major reference book on cerebral palsy and one on ethics in childhood neurodisabilities. Aside from these activities, he has served as scientific curator for five art exhibitions (incl. Measures of Bodies at the Museum of Medicine in Brussels and The Art of Difference subtitled Scientific Responses to Disability, Appropriations and Individual Expertise Through Art at the Brussels Museum for Fine Arts), and writes novels (one received an award from the Royal Academy for French Language Literature) and has written 16 short stories and has been a regular contributor to the literary magazine Marginales
February 24, 2024The Effects of Music on Early Brain Development
Laurel Trainor Laurel TrainorRotman Research Institute, Canada
Laurel Trainor is a Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour at McMaster University, a Research Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, a McMaster Distinguished University Professor. Her recognitions include a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for Music Perception and Cognition and a Woman of Distinction Award from the YWCA. She directs the Auditory Development Lab (https://trainorlab.mcmaster.ca/) and has published over 180 articles in journals including Science and Nature on the neuroscience of auditory development and the perception of music, including work on pitch, tonality, timing, rhythm, neuroplasticity, and the role of music in social interaction and developmental disorders. She co-holds a patent for the Neuro-compensator hearing aid. She has held major grants, including from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, The Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Social Science Research Council of Canada, la Fondation de l’Audition, and the Grammy Foundation. She is also the founding and present director of the McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind (MIMM), which houses the LIVELab (https://livelab.mcmaster.ca/), a unique research-concert hall with high acoustic control, that is equipped with multi-person motion capture and EEG for studying how performers and audiences interact, and how music can be used to promote health and well-being. Laurel also has a Bachelor of Music Performance from the University of Toronto, enjoys chamber music, and is principal flutist of the Burlington Symphony Orchestra.
2023The neurology of creativity – at the keyboard
Prof. Pearl Prof. Phillip L. Pearl, MDDirector of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology, Boston Children's Hospital; William G. Lennox Chair, Harvard Medical School
Featuring a live keyboard performance and take place in the esteemed and professional music studio associated with the Berklee College of Music!
Nov 25, 2023Neuroanatomical Art and Inventions of Leonardo da Vinci
Ingrid Tein Dr. Ingrid Tein, BSc, MD, FRCP(C)Chair, ICNA Neurology Through Art & Time Committee
An exploration of how Leonardo da Vinci's neuroanatomical investigations — through dissection and meticulous drawing — helped lay the foundations of modern neuroscience.
Dec 2, 2023Artistic explorations of thought
Dr. Audrius V. Plioplys Dr. Audrius V. PlioplysCanadian artist, Neurologist, Neuroscientist
Dr. Audrius V. Plioplys is a board-certified neurologist with special competence in child neurology in the US and Canada. He received his medical degree from the Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago. He then completed an adult neurology residency at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota followed by a pediatric neurology residency at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto. For over thirty years he has been both a professional artist and a neurologist-neuroscientist. He has been artistically exploring the origins of thinking, of consciousness. How is it that we are aware of ourselves, of others? How is it that social interactions, culture, and civilizations arise? Basically, what is it that makes us human? His artistic approaches have included large scale paintings, prints on paper, site-specific installations, and light sculptures with LED light systems. The underlying images are of his own previous art works. He transforms them into exotic forms, just as our memories transform visual impulses into vast neuronal web-works. Multiple layers are assembled, modified and blended. Cerebral cortical neuronal drawings, superimposed and subtracted from the surrounding color, reveal deeper layers of thoughts and memories. His own MRI brain scans and electroencephalograms are interweaved. From neuronal complexity words, thoughts, and consciousness emerge. His most recent explorations are large-scale, pure silk scarves. These silk works of art have multiple overlapping, interweaving layers of content, meaning and visual elements. Complexity of their design matches the complexity of our own thought processes.
Sep 30, 2023The Extensor Plantar Response through Art and Time
Prof. Pearl Dr. Biju Hameed, FRCPCH, PhDEditor, ICNApedia · ICNA NTAT Committee
Tracing the depiction of the Babinski sign through historical artworks, revealing how artists unknowingly documented this important neurological finding across the centuries.
October 28, 2023Neurology of the Musical Masters: Jazz Genre
Prof. Pearl Prof. Phillip L. Pearl, MDDirector of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology, Boston Children's Hospital; William G. Lennox Chair, Harvard Medical School
An examination of neurological conditions among the great jazz musicians, and how the interplay of brain and music shaped one of America's most distinctive art forms.
July 29, 2023Neurology of the Musical Masters: The Great American Songbook
Prof. Pearl Prof. Phillip L. Pearl, MDDirector of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology, Boston Children's Hospital; Harvard Medical School
Exploring the neurological histories of the legendary composers and performers of the Great American Songbook and what their experiences reveal about the neuroscience of musical creativity.
June 17, 2023Neurology of the Musical Masters: Impressionist Period and 20th Century
Prof. Pearl Prof. Phillip L. Pearl, MDDirector of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology, Boston Children's Hospital; Harvard Medical School
A look at neurological conditions among the great composers of the Impressionist era and 20th century, and the links between neurological disease and artistic genius.
Launch Session · March 25, 2023Neurology of the Musical Masters: Classical and Romantic Periods
Prof. Pearl Prof. Phillip L. Pearl, MDDirector of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology, Boston Children's Hospital; William G. Lennox Chair, Harvard Medical School
The inaugural NTAT session, exploring neurological conditions in the great composers of the Classical and Romantic eras — from Beethoven's deafness to Schumann's mental illness — and their influence on musical genius.

Neurology Through Art & Time Team

Dr. Ingrid Tein, BSc, MD, FRCP(C)
Chair, NTAT Committee
Dr. Biju Hameed, FRCPCH, PhD
Co-Chair & Editor, ICNApedia
Prof. Jo Wilmshurst, MD
Head of Pediatric Neurology, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, University of Cape Town · Past President, ICNA
Phillip Pearl, MD
Director Of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology, William G. Lennox Chair and Professor of Neurology, Dept. of Neurology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard University, Boston, USA
Bernard Dan, MD
Professor of Neurophysiology and Developmental Neurology, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, Editor-in-Chief of Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology
Haluk Topaloglu MD (Co-Chair)
Professor of Pediatrics and Child Neurology, Executive Associate Editor, Neuromuscular Disorders, Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey
Dr. Viraj Sanghi, MD
Senior Consultant, Pediatric Neurology, SRCC Children's Hospital / KEM Hospital & Seth GS Medical College, Mumbai

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