The Third Dual Congress on Psychiatry and the Neurosciences was held in Athens on the 16-19 October 2008. It was organised by the Hellenic Society for the Advancement of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, the Center for the Biopsychosocial Research, Education and Therapeutic Applications and the Hellenic Association of Biological Psychiatry, with the scientific collaboration of the International Neuropsychiatric Association and the Mediterranean Congress of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry.


The Congress commenced with presentations from distinguished researchers and in the evening the official opening ceremony took place where an exceptional short film produced by the European Cultural Center of Delphi was presented in lieu of foreword. A welcoming message by Professor Soldatos followed along with salutations by Professor Trimble and Professor Kreatsas. The Minister of Health and Social Solidarity, Mr Avramopoulos, also addressed the audience and declared the opening of the Congress. The ceremony continued with an amazing talk by Professor Damasio on emotions, a leader on his field of research, and concluded with a musical performance accompanied by a flute and guitar. During the musical performance there was also a video wall where the audience could read passages of poems and look at short, diverse videos, which were well matched with the music.


The general scientific programme included lectures, symposia, special sessions and clinical workshops while free communications were also present either in oral or poster form. In particular, the special sessions, which were a novel addition in this Congress, were devoted to the interrelation between psychiatry and culture, where fine arts and mythology were beautifully blended with mental illnesses. The rest of the programme covered themes from the fields of neuropsychiatry, neurobiology, biological psychiatry, neuropsychopharmacology, neuroimaging, psychophysiology, and also neurophilosophy.


Each section, namely lectures, symposia and special sessions were followed by questions from the audience, which were leading to interesting discussions. There was particular interest and a vivid conversation during a talk by Professor Crow. The latter presented his evolutionary theory on the development of schizophrenia and suggested that schizophrenia is the prize that humans pay for acquiring the gift of language many years ago. Professor Crow proposed that this huge evolutionary step occurred due to a single gene. The discussion, which was followed, challenged this suggestion and members from the audience supported the view that the polygenic theory cannot be ruled out as a possible explanation for the development of schizophrenia.


Another exciting lecture was given by Dr Gaviria who explained how current innovations in functional neurosurgery can help patients with psychiatric difficulties. For example, he explained that new surgery techniques such as Deep Brain Stimulation, which involves implantation of a medical device that sends electrical impulses to specific parts of the brain, can help alleviate symptoms from patients with severe clinical depression or patients with obsessive compulsive disorder. Such treatment options offer hope to patients who suffer from devastating symptoms and endure them for a long time - usually for many years - without experiencing great benefit from the current treatment approaches.


On a totally different subject, a Greek team from the Child Psychiatry clinic in Vironas presented their work on behaviour and learning disorders in school age children. In particular, Dr Anagnostopoulos described findings from a study which examined the development of psychopathology in children with learning disabilities. The children were coming from lower and middle class families and formed two different groups. Results showed that regardless the socio-economic status of the child's family the rate of psychopathology between the two groups of children was equal. Dr Lazaratou presented results from her study on behaviour assessment and reading ability in second grade school children. She concluded that hyperactivity in children without difficulties in attention was not associated with reading difficulties and suggested that this observation must be considered when therapeutic and/or educational planning is undertaken.


On the whole, the Congress succeeded in gathering many professionals from all over the world, many of whom presented their work and held creative conversations with their colleagues as well as with young professionals. Thematically the Congress was rich, quite diverse and stimulating and thus managed to capture the interest of professionals with different backgrounds and interests. The scientific agenda was complemented by a socio-cultural programme which included activities such as visiting the National Gallery and the New Acropolis museum that made the Congress not only scientifically rewarding, but also enjoyable.


Patapia M. Tzotzoli