Sunday, May 1, to Wednesday, May 4, 2005
Sheraton Sand Key Resort
1160 Gulf Boulevard, Clearwater, Florida
Telephone, 727-593-6001; Fax, 727-593-6004

Emerging evidence from both animal studies and human imaging studies suggests that the dysregulation of prefrontal cortex plays a key role in psychiatric disorders and addictive behaviors. These studies indicate a complex neuronal network, including, but not limited to the ventral and medial prefrontal cortex, and the striatum, that underlies the pathomechanism of addictive disorders. Several ascending systems including the dopaminergic, noradrenergic, serotonergic, glutamatergic, cholinergic systems impact on the cortico-basal ganglia network. In turn, the pyramidal neurons of the prefrontal modulate these ascending systems with direct descending connections to form a complex interconnected neuronal network. Of particular importance is the association of the prefrontal cortico-basal ganglia with diseases that emerge during adolescence and young adulthood, suggesting that this is a particularly vulnerable time in the life cycle for psychiatric disorders, including addiction, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia, and significant implications regarding co-morbidity to mental health problems during this period of development.