The Gordon Research Conference on Neural Plasticity has been held every alternate year since 1977 in July at Brewster Academy, Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Gordon Research Conferences were established to stimulate ideas in an informal setting. Uninhibited discussion is fostered by GRC strictures on the publications, proceedings, or indeed the citation of presentations. The format has proved particularly useful in the conference on Neural Plasticity--a highly interdisciplinary meeting in which the subject of modifiability of the nervous system is examined at the molecular, cellular and systems levels and in which the participants come from broadly different backgrounds (biochemical, pharmacological, anatomical, electrophysiological, behavioral). One evening is set aside for a keynote speaker and poster session. The remaining eight sessions will focus on specific issues, with 3 or 4 scheduled speakers so that significant time is preserved for discussion. The discussion tends to continue informally during the afternoon, when no formal sessions are scheduled. It is the experience of participants that these informal interactions are often more fruitful than the extended sessions characteristic of other meetings. The formal program includes sessions on: cellular and molecular models of learning, learning in the adult cerebral cortex, genetic and hormonal models of neural development and plasticity, regulation of neuronal receptors, oncogenies and neural plasticity, neural grafting, NMDA receptors and long term potentiation, and the role of ion channels in neural plasticity.
