In its most basic form, clinical neurophysiology deals with the diagnosis of disorders of the nervous system, the muscles and the arteries supplying the brain. The same techniques provide potent means of assessing an immense variety of neurological functions, the source of my inspiration. Where else can you raise and answer questions such as why animals are not prone to vasovagal fainting, why migraine attacks occur at the time they do, or how paralysis in cataplexy differs from all other types of paralysis? A related field concerns my attempts to simplify and clarify the terminological haze surrounding disorders of the autonomic system: not even the common faint is understood by the majority of physicians. In all cases, it is an understanding of physiology that helps unravel the origin of clinical phenomena. The more research is done on genetic and biochemical pathways leading to disease, the more physiological studies will be needed to complete the understanding of signs and symptoms.

The title of his inaugural lecture was 'Hoe werkt dat? Slap van het lachen en flauw van angst'.

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