The conference entitled """"""""Impulse Control Disorders in Parkinson's Disease"""""""" will take place July 12 - 13, 2007 in Toronto, ON. The purpose of this multidisciplinary conference is to generate new ideas for clinical, experimental, and translational studies that will be designed to improve the understanding of the spectrum of Impulse Control Disorders (ICD) in people with Parkinson's Disease (PD). While the compulsive gambling, purchasing, shopping; binge eating; compulsive engagement in hobbies, and punding behaviors are increasingly recognized in PD, very little formal study has been targeted to these fairly recently described phenomena. These objectives will be addressed by assembling panels of distinguished basic science and clinical researchers who will help lay the groundwork for future research related to ICD in PD.
The Specific Aims of the conference are to: 1) characterize the clinical phenomenology of this syndrome, the anatomical basis for the disorder, the parallels with addiction, and treatment approaches, 2) develop criteria to define the clinical syndrome and the associated behaviors, 3) facilitate interactions and promote collaboration amongst experts from diverse fields, 4) discuss the roles of advancing PD and increasing anti-Parkinson therapy from preclinical, translational and clinical perspectives, 5) begin planning for possible multi-center, multidisciplinary collaborations for new studies, and 6) foster junior investigator interest in pursuing research in the field of ICD in PD. Young investigators with an interest in this field will be encouraged to submit abstracts of ongoing research pertinent to these topics, and travel fellowships will be provided for 5 junior investigators. Every effort will be made to include women, minorities, and those with disabilities. A poster session for investigators with ongoing research will be scheduled. A summary of the meeting will be submitted for peer review, and the conference proceedings, including original abstracts, will be published in a neurology journal supplement. This conference is timely based on the increasing discussion of these behaviors at several meetings including the 2006 International Congress of Parkinson's Disease, American Academy of Neurology, European Federation of Neurological Societies, the Parkinson Study Group Symposium associated with the American Neurological Association, and the Movement Disorders Society annual Congress as well as recently reported cases which seem to associate these behaviors with mainstay therapies for PD. To date, there has not been a workshop or meeting dedicated to the discussion of this evolving field. ? ? ?
