Initially it was felt that the exact constitution and name should not be sharply defined and that for the time being it should take the form of an informal club.

The first meeting was held in March 1983 in Vienna. It was called "The European Workshop on Clinical Neuropharmacology" and the Presidency was shared by W. Birkmayer and F. Gerstenbrand. The Vienna meeting was a considerable scientific success. An administrative meeting also took place to consider the aims, scope and organization of the group and it was decided that it should be called formally "The European Association for Clinical Neuropharmacology". It was also agreed that a President should be appointed annually and that he and his local colleagues would be responsible for the organization of his meeting while considering when he considered it desirable, the advice of past Presidents.

The second meeting of the Association was held in Budapest in April of 1984 under the title "2nd European Workshop on Clinical Neuropharmacology" with W. Birkmayer as Honorary President and the meeting Presidency shared by E. Csanda and F. Gerstenbrand.

A third meeting was held in Rome under the Presidency of A. Agnoli - the 3rd European Workshop - and at the administrative meeting, policies concerning the Association matured further; these were formalized at the last meeting of the Association in June 1986 in Pamplona under the Presidency of J. Martinez-Lage.

The meetings of the "European Association for Clinical Neuropharmacology" were all very successful. They took place in Vienna, Innsbruck, Budapest, Rome, Pamplona, Bratislava, Brussels, Belgrade and Groningen.

From the Association to the Society

Therefore it was decided to further the development of the "Association" and to form a "European Society". This goal has been reached now and the first two congresses of the "European Society for Clinical Neuropharmacology (ESCNP)" were held in Freiburg, Germany, in 1994 (President, J.P.W.F. Lakke) and in Würzburg, Germany, in 1995 (President, C.H. Lücking).

The 3rd ESCNP congress will be organized in Rome in 1996 (President, P. Riederer), while the 4th ESCNP congress will take place in Israel in 1997 (president U. Bonuccelli).

Official Journal of the ESCNP. At the congress in Würzburg, it was decided that the Journal of Neural Transmission will be the official journal of the Society. Springer Verlag Vienna will provide you with a complimentary copy on request (Mr Hoy, Springer Verlag Wien, Postfach 89, A-1201 Wien).