Attention: Hours are in Italy Local Time (CET)

Saturday, February 19, 2022

14:00-14:30: Opening

14:30-15:30: Plenary Lecture (Chair: J.Balthazart, Belgium)

Karyn M. Frick (USA)

Rapid mechanisms of estrogenic memory modulation

15:30-16:00: coffee break

16:00-18:00: ESTROGENS AND THE BRAIN: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE FRANKLY PUZZLING

Chair: Sohrabji F. (USA), Galea L. (Canada)

Choleris E. (Canada)

Estrogens affect short term social recognition memory in various brain regions in a receptor-dependent manner: Unraveling the mechanisms

Saldanha C. (USA)

Spatial and temporal specificity of neuroestradiol provision in the songbird

Sohrabji F. (USA)

Estrogens effects on stroke neuroprotection: lessons learned from gut microbiota and gut metabolites

Sacher J. (Germany)

Does endogenous estradiol protect the female brain from metabolic harm during midlife?

Sunday, February 20, 2022

9:00-13:30: ALDOSTERONE AND GLUCOCORTICOIDS IN HEALTH AND DISEASE

Chair: Jezova D. (Slovaki ), Krugers H. (NL), Meijer O. (NL)

9:00-9:30: free communications

Mancini G.F. et al. (NL)

Late glucocorticoid receptor antagonism counteracts the programming effects of brief and repeated social isolation stress in early-adolescent rats.

Tsimpolis A. et al. (Greece)

Study of the dynamic effects of glucocorticoid pulsatility on brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in astrocytes

9:30-13:30: invited lectures

Hlavacova N. (Slovakia)

Aldosterone and mental functions-Evidence obtained in animal models

Jezova D. (Slovakia)

Role of aldosterone in the pathophysiology of affective disorders

Jeanneteau F. (France)

Glucocorticoids and dendritic spine plasticity: Context matters!

11:00-11:30: coffee break

Binder E. (Germany)

Massively parallel enhancer screens identify genetic variants that moderate the transcriptional response to glucocorticoids and are causally related to psychiatric disorder

de Quervain D. (Switzerland)

Stress, genes and memory: implications for treating fear-related disorders

Lesuis S. (Canada)

Disruption of memory allocation by stress: a role for parvalbumin interneurons and endocannabinoid signaling

Murck H. (Germany)

Aldosterone and BMI related brain morphology and treatment outcome in patients with major depression

13:30-15:00: lunch

15:00-18:00: NEUROSTEROIDS IN ANALGESIA AND ANESTHESIA

Chair: Todorovic S.M. (USA), Melcangi R.C. (Italy)

15:00-17:00: invited lectures

Jevtovic-Todorovic V. (USA)

Novel neurosteroids as safe general anesthetics for young

Todorovic S.M. (USA)

Novel neurosteroids and perioperative analgesia

Gonzales S. (Argentina)

Neuroactive steroids and central neuropathic pain

Meyer L. (France)

Analgesic and neuroprotective effects of neurosteroids against chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain

17:00-17:30: coffee break

17:30-18:00: free communications

Deligiannidis, K.M. et al. (USA)

Safety and tolerability profile of Zuranolone from the landscape (major depressive disorder) and nest (postpartum depression) clinical development programs

Milivojevic V. et al. (USA)

The neuroactive steroid precursor pregnenolone reduces stress and cue- provoked alcohol craving, and normalizes hpa axis and autonomic arousal responses in individuals with alcohol use disorder

18:00-19:00: posters' discussion

Monday, February 21, 2022

9:15-10:30: Free theme communications

Chair: Giatti S., Gotti S. (Italy)

Felipo V. et al. (Spain)

GR3027, A GABAA receptor modulating steroid antagonist, reverses neuroinflammation in cerebellum and restores motor coordination in hyperammonemic rats

Corsi S. et al. (Italy)

Pregnenolone for the treatment of L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson’s disease

Sliwowska J. et al. (Poland)

Do males and females respond differently to obesity and diabetes? Lesson from animal models

Cengiz P. et al. (USA)

Sexually differential role of estrogen receptor alpha and TRKB receptor in long-term neuroprotection following neonatal brain injury

Lasser, R. et al. (USA)

Summary of early (day 2/3) and primary (day 15) clinical efficacy outcomes from the ongoing clinical development program for Zuranolone in the treatment of major depressive disorder and postpartum depression

10:30-11:00 Coffee break

11:00-13:00: BIOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN STEROIDS AND THE ENDOCANNABINOID SYSTEM: POTENTIAL ROLE IN HEALTH AND DISEASE

Chair: Vallée M. (France), Frau R. (Italy)

Melis M. (Italy)

Mesolimbic dopamine dysregulation as a signature of aberrant salience attribution imposed by prenatal THC exposure

Vallée M. (France)

The neurosteroid pregnenolone as a new endogenous regulator of cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1): therapeutic relevance for cannabis abuse and cognitive disorders

Hill M.N. (Canada)

Endocannabinoid-Glucocorticoid Interactions in the Regulation of Feeding and Metabolism

Pinna G. (USA)

Biomarkers and treatments for mood disorders at the interface of the neurosteroid and endocannabinoid systems.

13:00-14:00: lunch

14:00-17:00: REGULATION OF LEARNING STRATEGIES BY SEX STEROIDS IN MALES AND FEMALES

Chair: Spritzer M. (USA), Cornil C. (Belgium)

14:00-16:00: invited lectures

Spritzer M. (USA)

Dose-dependent effects of testosterone on spatial learning strategies in male rats

Korol D. (USA)

Starring role of astrocytes in estradiol-mediated shifts in learning strategy.

Brake W. (Canada)

The Role of Estrogens and Progesterone on Memory System Bias

Toufexis D. (USA)

Sex differences in the formation and modulation of habitual behavior

16:00-16:30: coffee break

16:30-17:00: Free communications

Abi-Ghanem C. et al. (USA)

Influence of androgens on a mouse model of multi-etiology dementia

Borbélyová V. et al. (Slovakia)

The effect of estrogen deprivation on the behavior of shank 3-deficient mouse model of autism

17:00-18:30: SEX DIFFERENCES, APOE, AND ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

Chair: Pike C. (USA), Garcia-Segura L.M. (Spain)

Balu D. (USA)

Understanding the increased risk fo11r Alzheimer’s disease in female APOE4 carriers: what we have learned from the EFAD-transgenic mouse model

Pike C. (USA)

Sex and sex steroids modulate the interactions between APOE genotype and Alzheimer’s

Taxier L. (USA)

Influence of sex, APOE genotype, and 17-beta estradiol on memory and neural function in the EFAD transgenic model of Alzheimer’s disease

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

9:30-11:00: RECENT ADVANCES IN UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF ESTROGEN RECEPTOR BETA IN BEHAVIOUR

Chair: Ogawa S. (Japan), Barreto G. (Ireland)

Ogawa S. (Japan)

Estrogen Receptor beta neural network in the regulation of social behaviors.

Vasudevan N. (UK)

Nongenomic signaling can drive behaviour via membrane-bound receptors

Xiao-Hong X. (China)

Esr1 signaling models aggression circuit wiring during neonatal critical period

11:00-11:30: coffee break

11:30-12:30: Young Investigators Symposium

Chair: Giatti S., Gotti S. (Italy)

Bonaldo B. et al. (Italy)

Mother and son: how Bisphenols target brain and behaviors

Brand B.A. et al. (the Netherlands)

Raloxifene as adjunctive treatment for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Cabrera Zapata L. et al. (Spain)

Role of the X-linked histone demethylase KDM6a in sex-specific differentiation of hypothalamic neurons

De Wit A. et al. (the Netherlands)

Oral contraceptives and depression in healthy women: causal relation or just a correlation?

Demetriou A. et al. (Sweeden)

The impact of estrogen receptor beta on microglia activation and Alzheimer’s disease pathology

McGovern A. et al. (Ireland)

Sex differences in mitochondrial metabolism from a proteomic analysis of a gonadectomised and tibolone treated mouse model

12:30-13:30: lunch

13:30-15:30: posters' discussion

15:30-16:30: GENE REGULATION BY STEROID HORMONE RECEPTORS: MOLECULAR INSIGHTS INTO PHYSIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR

Chair: Tollkunn J. (USA), Frick K. (USA)

Kundakovic M. (USA)

Epigenetic regulation of brain and behavior by the estrous cycle

Tollkuhn J. (USA)

Hormonal regulation of sex-variable gene expression

16:30-17:30: Plenary Lecture (Chair: Krugers H., NL)

Onno C. Meijer (Netherlands)

Brain glucocorticoid receptors & stress: finding specificity in the midst of pleiotropy

17:30-18:00: Closure