The 2023 Gordon Conference on Neurotrophic Mechanisms in Health and Disease will cover the latest developments in neurotrophic factors, broadly defined as factors that have critical roles in neural circuit connectivity, synaptic plasticity, and behavior. Neurotrophic factors influence essentially all aspects of nervous system development; from neurogenesis to neuronal survival and death, to axon and dendrite growth and pruning, to synaptic plasticity and myelination, and to regulation of behavior. In recent years, it has become increasingly recognized that neurotrophin signaling mechanisms have critical roles in a range of human developmental disorders, adult psychiatric disorders, and in neurodegenerative diseases. Notably, several treatments that directly exploit knowledge of neurotrophin biology are now in human clinical trials for chronic pain, Alzheimer’s disease, and some forms of cancer including pediatric tumors.
Topics: Neurotrophic Factor Functions in Development, Plasticity, Regeneration and Disease