On October 11-13, 2016, the University of Rochester Institute of Neuromedicine and the Silvio O. Conte Center will hold a meeting entitled ?Persistent, maladaptive behaviors: why we make bad choices?. The Principal Investigators are Suzanne N. Haber, Conte Center Director, and John Foxe, University of Rochester Institute of Neuromedicine, Director. The organizing committee includes, Benjamin Greenberg MD, Butler Hospital, Randy Buckner Ph.D., Harvard University, Hesheng Liu Ph.D., Harvard University, Mary Phillips MD, University of Pittsburgh, Gregory Quirk Ph.D., University of Puerto Rico, and Steven Rasmussen MD, Brown University. The local organizing committee includes Gregory DeAngelis, Ph.D., Benjamin Hayden, and Ph.D., Brad Mahon, Ph.D. The meeting will consist of relatively short talks and ample time for discussion. The program is designed to involve basic and clinical scientists with a specific focus on the fundamental elements that drive basic behaviors and action plans (reward, fear, and value assignment); circuit dysfunctions that underlie abnormalities in diseases with persistent, habit-like behaviors, despite some awareness that these behaviors are maladaptive; the circuit components that are common amongst diseases; computational approaches to understanding these circuits; and therapeutic approaches that effect these circuits. Each session will begin with a series of relatively short focused talks, followed by a discussion and coffee break. This gives ample time for both formal and informal discussions and interactions. Posters by young scientists will be set up in the same room as the coffee breaks and meals and will remain up throughout the meeting. As the formal presentations are short, we will ask each presenter to submit a review paper on their topic that will be posted on our web site prior to the meeting. This will give participants an opportunity to review background material before the meeting.
Positive and negative outcomes are central to learning and drive the choices we make. Regions of prefrontal cortex and striatum are associated with using these outcomes to develop and appropriately adapt behaviors based on new or changing information. However, patients with addiction, present with persistent, maladaptive behaviors. These responses to stimuli are repetitive and patients are unable to change those responses and adapt appropriately to the consequences. While other meetings address how we use positive and negative outcomes to make good decisions, few address why, despite having all the information, patients nonetheless choose poorly. The topic of this meeting, ?Persistent, maladaptive behaviors: why we make bad choices?, is particularly timely as it brings together basic and clinical scientists with a specific focus on the fundamental elements that drive basic behaviors; circuit dysfunctions that underlie abnormalities in diseases with persistent, habit-like behaviors; computational approaches to understanding these circuits; and therapeutic approaches that effect these circuits. Understanding these critical links provides potential opportunities for new therapeutic interventions for different psychiatric disorders including addiction.
| Diehl, Maria M; Lempert, Karolina M; Parr, Ashley C et al. (2018) Toward an integrative perspective on the neural mechanisms underlying persistent maladaptive behaviors. Eur J Neurosci 48:1870-1883 |
