News Advisory
NIDA's Frontiers in Addiction
Research:
Meeting Explores Willpower, New Technologies in Imaging, and Brain Development
|
| What: |
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA),
part of the National Institutes of Health, will convene a
one-day mini-convention at the Society for Neuroscience Annual
Meeting in Washington, D.C. NIDA scientists will present
recent findings and discuss future directions in neuroscience.
Concepts to be discussed include: how the environment can
alter gene function (epigenetics) in addiction and brain
development; what determines free will or ‘free won’t’; and
how ground-breaking imaging technologies can reveal gene
activation in the living brain, and/or control neurons and
behavior. |
| Why: |
To bring together scientists to explore the latest research on addiction neuroscience. |
| When: |
Friday, November 14, 2008
8:00 a.m. – 6:10 p.m. |
| Where: |
Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting
Renaissance Washington DC Hotel
Grand Ballroom North and Central
999 Ninth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 |
| More Information: |
For more information on the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, please visit www.sfn.org/press2008. To arrange an interview with NIDA staff, please contact NIDA press officers Dorie Hightower or Stephanie Older at 301-443-6245 or e-mail your request to media@nida.nih.gov. |
Event Highlights:
- Willpower:
What Really Governs Our Choices? — new perspectives
on the controversial topic of how our brain responds to competing
incentives in the environment to determine our ultimate course
of action—or inaction.
- Epigenetics
and Brain Function — a description of epigenetic
mechanisms mediating maternal effects on the brain and behavior,
regulation of learning and relapse to drug seeking, and mechanisms
of cocaine addiction.
- Multimodal
Imaging of Neuropathways — applications of groundbreaking
technology for optical remote control and real-time
tracking of neurons and circuits, including the detection of
gene activation and new-born neurons in the living brain.
- Cortical
Development and Substance Abuse — an exploration
of environmental influences on early cortical development,
and the implications for addiction.
- Drug Abuse and Neuroscience Research Poster Session — an
opportunity for early career investigators to discuss their research
findings and interests with NIDA staff, training directors, and
other drug abuse researchers.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse is a component of the National
Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
NIDA supports most of the world’s research on the health
aspects of drug abuse and addiction. The Institute carries out
a large variety of programs to inform policy and improve practice. Fact
sheets on the health effects of drugs of abuse and information
on NIDA research and other activities can be found on the NIDA
home page at www.drugabuse.gov. To
order publications in English or Spanish, call NIDA’s new
DrugPubs research dissemination center at 1-877-NIDA-NIH
or 240-645-0228 (TDD) or fax or email requests to 240-645-0227
or drugpubs@nida.nih.gov.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's
Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and
Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting
and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research,
and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both
common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and
its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
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