Content area
Abstract
For this reason, this fourth edition of the Congress was expanded to include more symposia that addressed the mechanisms of stress-induced use of addictive drugs. Since the first congress in 2008, basic and preclinical alcohol research has identified a variety of new targets for the treatment of alcohol dependent patients and several new compounds are currently undergoing clinical testing. The symposia topics encompassed several diverse and overlapping aspects of alcohol and stress research, including: 1) Molecular and genetic variables in anxiety, stress and excessive drinking in rodents selected for alcohol-related behaviors; 2) Cellular and hormonal mediation of stress responses and their interaction with alcohol; 3) Neuropharmacological studies of the neurocircuitry of stress responses in animal models of alcoholism with regards to hormonal, imaging and clinical measures; 4) Toxic sequelae and a lifespan perspective on the mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of stress and alcoholism; and 5) Interactions between alcohol and other addictive drugs (such as nicotine and opioids). Dr. Marco Diana from the University of Sassari (Italy) discussed dopaminergic hypofunction in alcohol dependence; Dr. Emilio Merlo-Pich from Takeda Development Centre Europe (Imperial College, London, UK) reported on novel digital technology for the discovery and managements of novel treatments for alcoholism and psychiatric disorders, and Dr. Robert Swift from Brown University (USA) discussed the effect of mGluR5 modulators on alcohol pharmaco-kinetics and pharmacodynamics and alcohol craving in a human laboratory model. [...]Dr. Tiffany Wills (Louisiana State University Health Science Center, New Orleans) spoke about the regulation of NMDA receptors and plasticity in the BNST following adolescent alcohol exposure.