Specifically, beginning on the first day, Dr. Joseph LeDoux from NYU is discussing "Coming to Terms with Fear." As he describes, "fear is a fundamental part of human life, and plays a central role in psychiatric disorders." He will discuss a more nuanced and sophisticated model of classic Pavlovian fear conditioning to better frame the underlying neural processes toward understanding human behavior. Next, Dr. Karl Deisseroth from Stanford will talk about important advances in optogenetics and how this important technology can advance our ability to study brain development while probing for disease mechanisms in models of depression and anxiety. Dr. Kerry Ressler from Emory will extend the previous talks by reviewing progress in differential genetic susceptibility to disorders of fear as they relate to fear learning and memory and the development of PTSD and other related conditions.  To end the first day, Dr. Barbara Rothbaum also from Emory will discuss new approaches to disrupt fear learning therapeutically near the time of trauma to reduce the symptoms and development of PTSD.  Together these talks provide a substrate for additional conversation around managing traumatic and other fear-linked depressive and anxiety disorders.

On the second day, stress rules, hopefully not because of activities within the conference itself! Dr. Bruce McEwen from Rockefeller kicks of the day with a review of recent work defining how the plastic brain responds to stress through gene activation and repression, neuronal remodeling and neurochemical and receptor changes. Building upon that talk, Dr. George Koob will then relate these changes to the development of drug and alcohol addiction as an expression of brain plasticity in response to stress. Indeed, it is well known that stress is a coming cause of drug relapse, but understanding these systems may also help develop novel and more successful treatments. Dr. Elisabeth Binder, another Emory scientist (one must wonder what is going on at Emory where so much stress and fear is aroundJ), will review a specific glucocorticoid receptor-regulating co-chaperone FKBP5 as an example of a novel molecular target for treatment development. The session will be concluded by Dr. Alan Schatzberg from Stanford who will review recent advances in understanding the molecular underpinnings underlying relationships between the body's stress response system and the development of psychosis during the course of depression. After such a 'stressful' morning we hope attendees will relax by gathering coffee and friends and heading to good symposia and discussion.

On the final morning of the conference, the theme shifts to neurodevelopment to extend the previous two days of relating neural plasticity, stress and psychiatric disorders. Dr. Fred Gage from the Salk Institute will describe recent work reprogramming human neurons in vitro, derived from preprogrammed somatic cells, to understand brain function and human diseases. Specific molecular pathways can therefore be studied that might have direct relevance to major psychiatric conditions like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Dr. Huda Akil from the University of Michigan brings findings from genomic and human postmortem studies to challenge conceptions of how the pathophysiology of major depression arises at the molecular and cellular levels.  Dr. Francis Lee then moves us through specific neural developmental molecular models of circuits that modulate fear and how age-dependent differences in these networks' function, especially around adolescence, may dramatically alter the efficacy of standard cognitive-behavioral therapies. Finally, the plenary sessions end with Dr. Danny Weinberger of the Lieber Institute moves us past standard GWAS to thinking about gene transcription effects may serve as more informative molecular models of evolving pathology and the neurodevelopmental process underlying such. This last day integrates and extends the previous plenary sessions into a broad approach to considering the role of stress on changes in the brain leading to psychiatric disorder.

Obviously, I cannot do justice to the sophistication of these discussions and likely lack the intellect to even accurately understand them, so I hope that you will plan to attend these sessions and participate in lively collaborations and discussions. I look forward to seeing you in Toronto. Despite the topics, we will ensure the meeting will not be stressful or fearful, but instead will once again be a chance to meet friends, extend ideas and head home with the next grant proposal in mind!

Best Wishes,

Steve Strakowski, MD

SOBP President Elect

Senior Vice President, Strategy & Transformation, UC Health

Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Psychology and BME, University of Cincinnati