2011 Inhibition in the CNS Gordon Research Conference

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案要求部分支持将于2011年7月24日至29日在美国缅因州沃特维尔举行的关于中枢神经系统抑制的国际会议，作为戈登研究会议系列的一部分。会议的长期目标是增加我们对抑制性突触传递的基本机制，中间神经元在调节兴奋性和网络活动中的作用的理解。重点放在中间神经元多样性和神经干细胞如何分化为中间神经元，以及滥用药物（包括阿片类药物和酒精）影响中枢神经系统抑制的机制。本次会议的具体目的是召集40位代表抑制研究关键领域的演讲者，总共约150名与会者，在一个相对孤立的环境中举行为期五天的会议。该计划将有一个主题演讲和八个会议，广泛讨论中间神经元生物学的当前问题。会议通常致力于大脑中含有抑制性递质GABA的特殊神经元子集的解剖学和生理学，抑制性突触的功能和调节，以及这些特定的中间神经元在调节和同步神经元网络活动中的作用，以及抑制性神经递质GABA和甘氨酸控制的受体的细胞生物学。还有一个会议专门讨论从干细胞中发育中间神经元。演讲者将是多元化的，来自多个国家，年轻的调查人员和女性也将有很好的代表。此外，两个晚上的海报会议将允许所有参与者对这些主题进行互动和贡献。这一应用的意义在于，戈登中枢神经系统抑制研究会议是推动国际抑制研究人员研究的年度系列会议的重要组成部分。这一应用与健康的关系是，本次会议的讨论将确定在影响人类发展、药物滥用责任和认知功能的领域中需要实验解决的问题。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal requests partial support for an international meeting on Inhibition in the CNS as part of the Gordon Research Conference series to be held in Waterville, Maine, U.S.A. July 24-29, 2011. The broad and long-term goal of the Conference is to increase our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of inhibitory synaptic transmission, the role of interneurons in regulating excitability and network activity. A significant emphasis is placed on interneuron diversity and how neuronal stem cells differentiate into interneurons, as well as the mechanisms by which drugs of abuse, including opiates and alcohol, influence inhibition in the CNS. The specific aims of this meeting will be to convene 40 speakers that represent critical areas of inhibition research with a total of ~150 participants for a five day conference in a relatively isolated setting. The program will have a keynote address and eight sessions that broadly address current issues in the biology of interneurons. Sessions are typically devoted to the anatomy and physiology of a special subset of neurons in the brain containing the inhibitory transmitter GABA, the function and regulation of inhibitory synapses, and the role these specific interneurons play in regulating and synchronizing the activity of neuronal networks, as well as the cell biology of the receptors gated by the inhibitory neurotransmitters GABA and glycine, and a session devoted to the development of interneurons from stem cells. Speakers will be diverse, with multiple nations featured, and younger investigators and women well represented. In addition, two evening poster sessions will permit all of the participants to interact and contribute to these topics. The significance of this application is that the Gordon Research conference on Inhibition in the CNS is a critical component of the yearly series of conferences that propel research in the international community of inhibition researchers. The health relatedness of this application is that the discussions at this meeting will define the questions that require experimental resolution in areas that affect human development, drug abuse liability and cognitive function. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The Gordon Conference on Inhibition in the CNS is a scientific meeting that is held on the campus of Colby College in Maine. 150 participants from around the world will gather for a five-day meeting, sleeping in dormitories and eating college dorm food, while spending time discussing their scientific work in an isolated setting that promotes conversations among experts who might not otherwise meet. About 40 lectures will be given, and junior scientists are encouraged to attend and to lead the discussion of the work presented. This year's meeting will highlight ground-breaking areas of brain science such as the modeling of human brain wave activity by computer simulations, the actions of drugs such as alcohol and sleeping pills on the brain, and the applications of stem cells for the treatment of human brain disorders. Many new and interesting scientific developments begin as informal conversations between scientists from different parts of the world, who have the unique opportunity at these small meetings to discuss their experiments together in a secure and protected environment that allows for imaginative and creative thought, far away from their university teaching and fund- raising responsibilities.