2023 Inhibition in the CNS Gordon Research Conference and Gordon Research Seminar

Gordon Research Conferences, East Greenwich RI

Investigators

Abstract

Project Summary The next Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on inhibition in the Central Nervous System will be convened at Les Diablerets, Switzerland, on July 16-21, 2023. This international research conference has been held every two years since 2005 as part of the GRC conference series. As in previous years, it will be preceded on July 15-16, 2023, by the Gordon Research Seminar (GRS), which provides a unique atmosphere for junior scientists, including postdocs and graduate students, to discuss and exchange novel findings and ideas in preparation for the GRC. Inhibition in the Central Nervous System is mainly driven by the neurotransmitter GABA, which has been proven to be fundamental for brain function and, when the perturbed result in dysfunction. The GRC will provide a major forum where leaders in the field and junior scientists who are rising new stars will have the opportunity to exchange novel concepts and approaches to advance the field. The general scientific goal of this meeting is to explore leading topics in the field of inhibition in healthy brains and to better understand the role of altered inhibition in neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. To achieve this goal, the meeting will pursue the following specific aims: to select speakers that will discuss cutting-edge fundamental research questions in inhibition within health and disease, to increase diversity and promote network collaborations, and provide training, networking and career promotion of graduate students and postdocs. The meeting will attain these aims by selecting 34 world-class speakers and 9 discussion leaders, many of whom are junior group leaders from 13 different countries (20 US-based scientists, 17 women). There is growing evidence linking GABA deficits to neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders. As such, the GRC/GRS meetings' emphasis on health impact will maximize discussion of fundamental questions in this field and seek novel therapeutic targets of inhibitory circuitries to treat devastating brain disorders.