Although research advances in neural circuitry and behavior have improved our understanding of the processes underlying addiction, gaps remain in the development of new biologic or pharmacologic therapies, neuroscience-based behavioral treatment and monitoring methods, and access-to-care strategies. To address these unmet needs, the New York Academy of Sciences, together with the Aspen Brain Forum Foundation, and the journal Science Translational Medicine will present a 2.5-day conference titled, Sixth Annual Aspen Brain Forum: The Addicted Brain and New Treatment Frontiers, on May 18 - 20, 2016, in New York City. This conference will convene approximately 250 attendees - including basic scientists and clinical investigators in academia, industry, and government; physicians and other addiction treatment specialists; pharmaceutical strategists; and lawmakers - in an effort to better understand the neurobiology of addiction. The event will include discussions on neuroplasticity, neurodevelopment, and socio-political issues, with the goals of developing new targets and improving current behavioral and pharmacological treatments. The three central aims of this conference are to: (i) provide a neutral forum through lectures, a keynote presentation, interactive debates, and networking activities for discussing the neurobiological landscape of addiction, therapeutic prospects, and the socio-political environment within which addiction persists; (ii) showcase and encourage the participation of early career, female, and underrepresented minority investigators via short talks, poster presentations, travel fellowships, career mentoring activities, and discounted registration; and (iii) foster collaboration among international investigators from all sectors to promote the translation of research into more effective addiction therapeutics. The conference goals align well with the mission of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to support the advancement of new knowledge on the neurobiological and behavioral processes underlying addictive behaviors, and the translation of information into interventions that may ultimately reduce substance abuse. In addition, NIDA's specific goal of disseminating information about addiction and advances in research will be met through the publication of a post-conference, enduring, open-access, Section 508- compliant Meeting Report in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences and an online, multimedia report known as an eBriefing, which will distribute the scientific knowledge and ideas exchanged at the meeting to the global research and medical communities. This conference is especially timely given recent advances in neurobiology research and changes to substance laws (e.g., expanded legalization of marijuana usage within many U.S. states and efforts to reform drug criminalization policies). A collaborative examination of this new information among all addiction stakeholders is of significant value for guiding research forward in the field - particularly with respect to potential innovative therapeutic approaches.
The Addicted Brain and New Treatment Frontiers Addiction - compulsive and continued behavior to seek a stimulus despite serious negative physical, emotion, and social consequences - is a disease of the brain that imposes large socioeconomic costs in the United States. At the initiation of substance and alcohol use disorders, neuroplastic events alter pathways in the brain that function for cue-encoding, reward anticipation, and response to mood disturbance. These neuroplastic changes are associated with perseveration on the stimulus, impaired executive function, and inability to cope with negative mood. Behavior-modifying neuroplastic changes of this kind may have particularly severe consequences on the adolescent developing brain, which undergoes dynamic developmental changes to consolidate learned behavior. While behavioral therapy has been a pillar of treatment for substance and alcohol use disorders, medication-assisted therapy (e.g., Naltrexone, Suboxone, and Varenicline) has shown promise. However, for many substances of addiction there are currently no medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (e.g., methamphetamine, cocaine, and cannabis use disorders). More translational research is needed to bridge the gap from our increasingly sophisticated understanding of neuroplastic changes in addiction and pharmacologic targets for medications. Moreover, economic and social barriers to care exist that may be addressed through changes in public policy and health care systems. This 2.5-day conference will have an important impact on our understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in addiction and novel treatment strategies. It will serve as a neutral forum to critically review basic neuroscience of the addictin process and effects of substance use on the developing adolescence brain. The conference will also be a platform for examining new treatment strategies, including deep brain stimulation, novel pharmacologic targets, and individualized medicine based on genetics. Approximately 250 visionary basic scientists, clinical researchers (from academia, industry, and government), regulatory experts, and public policy strategists to stimulate research on improving the efficacy of addiction treatment strategies will convene at this event. Open-access publication of the conference proceedings in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences and an open-access eBriefing multimedia report are planned to disseminate the scientific information exchanged at the meeting to the global research and medical communities.
