Press releases at the ECNP Congresses

36^th ECNP Congress, 7-10 October 2023

• Major study reveals safest way to take Valium and Ativan
• Wearable bracelet tracks bipolar mood swings: changing electrical signals in skin linked to manic or depressed moods
• Is this how antidepressants work, and why they take weeks to kick-in?
• Teaching expectant mothers to bond with their babies
• Antidepressants versus running for depression: is there a winner?
• Ketamine-related drug gives better treatment for difficult to treat clinical depression
• Women’s mood worsens during ‘pill pause’ period of monthly contraceptive pill cycle

Follow the media coverage of the congress here.

35^th ECNP Congress, 15-18 October 2022

• Scientists discover structure of adult brain – previously thought to be fixed - is changed by treatment
• Strict parenting may hard-wire depression risk into a child’s DNA
• The U-curve: children born to younger or older parents have an increased risk of bipolar disorder
• Nicotine dose in a single cigarette blocks estrogen production in women’s brains
• Eating well and avoiding the news gave the best mental health outcomes during Covid
• Patients with clinical depression “stopped seeking treatment” during the Covid waves

Follow the media coverage of the congress here.

34^th ECNP Congress Hybrid, 2-5 October 2021

• A guide to accelerate the discovery of new medicines for neurological and psychiatric diseases 
  (also in Spanish and Catalan language)
• “Magic mushroom” anti-depressive psychedelic affects perception of music
• Depressed COVID patients respond better than expected to antidepressants
• Depression history written in the reactions of the brain
• Intestinal drug shown to boost memory and cognition
• Scientists find protein which indicates whether memories can be changed
• Depressed adolescents’ brains shown to mute distressing information
• Fast driver, fast life: genetics and everyday behaviour reflected in risky driving

Follow the media coverage of the congress here.

33^rd ECNP Congress Virtual, 12-15 September 2020

• Not so similar after all: depression, but not anxiety, linked with inflammation and metabolic changes
• Doctors develop system which can predict Bipolar Disorder 4 years before onset
• Baby heartbeat reveals the stress of having a depressed or anxious mother
• Improved early psychosis detection system may halve risk in young people
• Electroconvulsive therapy shown to significantly reduce suicide risk in bipolar patients
• Measuring brainwaves while sleeping can tell if you should switch antidepressants
• Depression risk detected by measuring heart rate changes
• Is the “Mozart Effect” real? New analysis indicates that music can help epilepsy

Follow the media coverage of the congress here. 

32^nd ECNP Congress, 7-10 September 2019, Copenhagen

• "Speaking your mind”: analysis locates brain areas for understanding metaphors in healthy and schizophrenic people
• Study shows 1/3 of young children admitted to intensive care for sepsis show PTSD symptoms years later
• Deep magnet stimulation shown to improve symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder
• Study locates brain areas for understanding metaphors in healthy and schizophrenic people
• Children of anxious mothers twice as likely to have hyperactivity in adolescence
• Scientists find psychiatric drugs affect gut contents
• Snips and snails or sugar and spice? Research shows puberty changes the brains of boys and girls differently
• The fast and the curious: fitter adults have fitter brains
• ADHD medication: how much is too much for a hyperactive child?
• Why don’t the drugs work? Research shows controlling inflammation can make antidepressants more effective
  
  

31^st ECNP Congress, 6-9 October 2018, Barcelona

• Study shows diet and weight may affect response to bipolar disorder treatment 31st ECNP Congress Barcelona
• Pregnant women recognise baby facial expressions and cries differently depending on their mental health history
• Gene which decreases risk of social network-related stress, increases finance-related stress risk
• Research shows club drug GHB associated with brain and cognitive changes
• Study shows DNA of people with childhood abuse or depression ages faster
• Sexual abuse as a child changes the body’s biochemical response to stress
• European researchers set out priorities for dealing with problem internet use
  
  

30^th ECNP Congress, 2-5 September 2017, Paris

• Is ADHD really a sleep problem? (watch the webcast)
• Pilot study shows that neurofeedback may help treatment-resistant depression
• Financial stress is associated with migraine, if you have specific circadian gene variants
• Alterations in blood-based miRNA in veterans affected with combat-related PTSD
• Heavy alcohol use alters brain functioning differently in young men and women
• Study shows coping skills affect women’s anxiety levels
• Scientists discover brain area which can be targeted for treatment in patients with schizophrenia who ‘hear voices’
• Study shows contrasting long-term cognitive effects of psychiatric drugs in schizophrenia
• What makes alcoholics drink? Research shows it’s more complex than supposed
  
  

29^th ECNP Congress, 17-20 September 2016, Vienna

• High status job means you are less likely to respond to treatment for depression
• Study shows that opioids may affect how we perceive ‘cuteness’ of babies
• Why don’t antidepressants work in some patients? Mouse study shows it may be down to your environment
• Study shows lack of interest in sex successfully treated by exposure to bright light
• Study measures effects of beer on psychosocial and sexual attitudes
• Hormone EPO (also used as a doping drug) can help with bipolar disorder
• Neuroscience may explain the ‘freezing’ reaction when scared
• Tourette’s patients are not aggressive, as people think
• Reason antidepressants often don’t work may be due to your circumstances
• Cancer deaths doubled in men who are anxious (large UK study)
• Internet addiction may be a sign of other mental health problems
• Neuroscience may vindicate 200 year old Art theory (from Immanuel Kant)
  

28^th ECNP Congress, 28 August-1 September 2015, Amsterdam

• “But doctor, I’m not ill”: Research finds relation between marker of brain cell dysfunction and awareness of illness in psychotic patients
• Women in poor areas twice as likely to develop clinical anxiety as men
• Clinical trial shows first treatment for ‘emotional flatness’ associated with schizophrenia
• Research shows testosterone changes brain structures in female-to-male transsexuals
• Psychotic patients distinguished from controls while watching movie Alice in Wonderland
• Study shows that food may be addictive: research indicates food craving is ‘hard-wired’ in the brain
• Can you avoid hangovers after heavy drinking?
• Scientists show how magnetic pulses change the brain in treatment for depressed patients: may open door to individualised treatment
• How can we prevent suicide? Major study shows suicide risk factors associated with depression
• A single cocaine dose lowers perceptions of sadness and anger