From plasticity to recovery: how we can change the brain
Plasticity is defined as the individual’s capacity to modify brain functioning and behaviour. It plays a fundamental role in psychiatry and applied neuroscience, as it is increasingly recognized as pivotal in the reorganization of the neural and mental processes during the transition from psychopathology to well-being. Enhanced plasticity allows the brain—and, consequently, mental states—to be more capable to change, resulting in significant clinical improvement when directed effectively through structured therapeutic interventions.
By harnessing plasticity, innovative and effective strategies are emerging to foster recovery, making plasticity both a crucial tool and a promising marker for the future of mental health and precision psychiatry. This year ECNP New Frontiers Meeting will explore how plasticity can be leveraged to promote recovery in mental health and how measuring plasticity can guide the development of new treatments.
The meeting will bring together leading scientists, clinicians, and industry experts to explore how a plasticity-focused approach can redefine psychiatric care and open new avenues for restoring brain health and resilience.
The livestreamed sessions will be recorded for on-demand viewing until 23 March 2026 (registered participants only).
Registration
Registration for in-person and virtual participation will open on 15 September 2025.
The deadline to apply for in-person participation is 11 November 2025. The deadline to register for virtual participation is 11 March 2026.
Virtual participants access the meeting via the ECNP Knowledge Hub, where sessions will be livestreamed on a dedicated page. Active engagement is encouraged through the interactive Q&A tool, Slido, which enables virtual participants to submit questions in real time.
General information
Discover all the essential information you need about the ECNP New Frontiers Meeting 2026, including details on participation options and other general information.
Support opportunities
If your company or organisation would like to be an official supporter of the meeting, please contact us.
Committee
Meet the committee members here.
Terms and conditions
For the terms and conditions, click here.
New Frontiers Concept
Neuroscience is facing a crisis in the translation of fundamental advances into new treatments. The crisis has seen a significant slowing-down in the development of new and better therapies, and widespread disinvestment from the field, especially in Europe. The ECNP New Frontiers Meeting was launched to help tackle this critical challenge. As Europe’s leading independent scientific association for the science and treatment of disorders of the brain, ECNP is in a unique position to provide a neutral, precompetitive platform for the exchange of insights and ideas across the spectrum of CNS research and development.
Past meetings
Check the previous meetings here:
ECNP New Frontiers Meeting 2025
23-24 March, Nice, France, and virtually
Targeting neural circuits in psychiatry
More info can be found here.
ECNP New Frontiers Meeting 2024
17-18 March, Nice, France
A consensus roadmap for a new diagnostic framework for mental disorders
Expert speakers together with the participants explored how the new pathways neurobiology is opening to precision diagnostics have the potential to transform neuropsychiatric treatment science.
Scientists, industry leaders, patient representatives, and regulators were invited to join the event virtually through access to the livestreamedsessions on our virtual platform.
ECNP New Frontiers Meeting 2023
19-20 March, Nice, France
Psychedelics
This meeting is an essential platform for focused, high-level exchange at the intersection of research science and the development of psychedelics as new treatments for brain disorders. In 2023, the meeting was held in Nice, France, and virtually by livestream.
The major topics of discussion will be molecular mechanisms and pharmacology, neuroimaging, psychological variables, clinical trials, regulatory requirements, and patient perspectives.
Programme
Who is this meeting for?
The meeting is designed for stakeholders interested in exploring how psychedelics are currently re-emerging as therapeutic agents at a much more comprehensively examined level than 50 years ago. The meeting will provide a state-of-the-art overview of where we stand today, and what needs to be achieved in order to move forward with some of these powerful, but scheduled compounds.
Recommended publications
- Knowledge gaps in psychedelic medicalisation: Preclinical and neuroimaging mechanisms
Drummond E-Wen McCulloch et al.
Neuroscience Applied, 2024 - Knowledge gaps in psychedelic medicalisation: Clinical studies and regulatory aspects
Drummond E-Wen McCulloch et al.
Neuroscience Applied, 2024
ECNP New Frontiers Meeting 2022
20-21 March 2022, Nice, France
Digital Health
This face-to-face meeting is an essential platform for focused, high-level exchange at the intersection of research science and new treatment development.
Topics of the meeting were:
- Decentralised trials in CNS
- Digital (mobile) endpoints
- Digital therapeutics
Who is this meeting for?
This meeting is designed for stakeholders from IT, pharma and medical devices industry, regulators, and patient and family associations who are interested in exploring how digital health is going to change the way clinical trials are run and the future of digital therapeutics for brain disorders.