An international meeting on Inhibition in the CNS as part of the Gordon Research Conference series will be held in Waterville, Maine, U.S.A. July 24-29, 2011. The broad and long-term goal of the Conference is to increase our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of inhibitory synaptic transmission, the role of interneurons in regulating excitability and network activity. A significant emphasis is placed on interneuron diversity and how neuronal stem cells differentiate into interneurons, as well as the mechanisms by which drugs of abuse, including opiates and alcohol, influence inhibition in the CNS.

The specific aims of this meeting will be to convene ~40 speakers who represent critical areas of inhibition research with a total of ~150 participants for a five day conference in a relatively isolated setting. The program will have a keynote address and eight sessions that broadly address current issues in the biology of interneurons. Sessions are typically devoted to the anatomy and physiology of a special subset of neurons in the brain containing the inhibitory transmitter GABA, the function and regulation of inhibitory synapses, and the role these specific interneurons play in regulating and synchronizing the activity of neuronal networks, as well as the cell biology of the receptors gated by the inhibitory neurotransmitters GABA and glycine. This meeting will include sessions devoted to the development of interneurons from stem cells, to the role of GABA in neuro-immune interactions, and the role of inhibition in the abuse potential of alcohol and opiates. Speakers will be diverse, with multiple nations featured, and younger investigators and women well represented. In addition, two evening poster sessions will permit all of the participants to interact and contribute to these topics.