5th International Conference on Neuroscience and Mental Health

Addiction is a chronic, relapsing brain disorder, and understanding it through the rigorous lens of neuroscience has transformed how we approach prevention, treatment, and recovery. This session brings together addiction neuroscientists, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and public health researchers to explore the complex neural mechanisms that underlie substance use disorders and behavioural addictions, and to evaluate the most effective therapeutic interventions currently available. With the global burden of addiction continuing to rise, from the opioid epidemic in North America to rising rates of alcohol use disorder, stimulant abuse, and behavioural addictions worldwide, this session addresses one of the most urgent challenges in contemporary neuroscience and mental health.

The neuroscience of addiction centres on the brain's reward, motivation, and executive control systems, and this session will provide a deep and nuanced exploration of how substances and addictive behaviours hijack these circuits, producing compulsive use despite harmful consequences. Delegates will explore the neurobiological underpinnings of craving, tolerance, withdrawal, and relapse, as well as the genetic and environmental factors that confer vulnerability to addiction. Emerging research on the long-term neurological effects of substance use, including structural and functional brain changes associated with chronic alcohol, opioid, stimulant, and cannabis use, will be presented alongside its clinical implications for treatment and recovery.

Treatment innovation is a central theme of this session. Participants will hear about the latest advances in medication-assisted treatment, including buprenorphine, naltrexone, methadone, and emerging agents, alongside evidence-based psychosocial interventions such as contingency management, motivational interviewing, and relapse prevention programmes. The growing field of behavioural addictions, encompassing gambling disorder, internet gaming disorder, compulsive sexual behaviour, and others, will also be addressed, reflecting the expanding scope of addiction science. Special attention will be given to adolescent addiction vulnerability, prevention strategies, and the importance of integrated care models that address addiction alongside co-occurring psychiatric conditions.

Key Topics: 

• Reward Circuitry and Craving: How the mesolimbic dopamine system and prefrontal circuits drive addiction, craving, and compulsive drug-seeking behaviour.
• Opioid Use Disorder: Neurobiology of opioid dependence, medication-assisted treatment advances, and strategies for addressing the global opioid crisis.
• Alcohol and the Brain: Neurobiological effects of chronic alcohol use on brain structure, function, and behaviour, and advances in alcohol use disorder treatment.
• Stimulant and Cannabis Use Disorders: Brain effects, clinical features, and treatment approaches for cocaine, methamphetamine, and cannabis use disorders.
• Behavioural Addictions: Neuroscience of gambling disorder, internet gaming disorder, and other behavioural addictions, diagnosis and treatment.
• Relapse Prevention: Neurobiological and psychosocial approaches to reducing relapse risk and supporting long-term recovery from substance use disorders.
• Adolescent Addiction Vulnerability: Neurodevelopmental factors that increase addiction risk in adolescence, and evidence-based prevention and early intervention strategies.
• Integrated Care for Co-Occurring Disorders: Models of integrated treatment for substance use disorders co-occurring with depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other psychiatric conditions.