Biological Basis of Personality and Indidvidual Differences

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The title of this conference is "The biological basis of personality and individual differences." This three-day event will be held on the campus of SUNY Stony Brook on Long Island September 9-11, 2004. Research on the biological basis of personality and individual differences has been catalyzed by recent methodological advances in genetics and neuroscience. However, investigators engaged in these projects are affiliated with disciplines that have had relatively little contact with each other. Thus, they have worked in relative isolation from each other and from psychologists. The rationale for organizing this conference is therefore to offer a forum for interactions between psychologists and biologically oriented researchers who share an interest in personality and individual differences. The conference will feature nineteen clinicians, geneticists, psychologists, and neuroscientists from the United States, South America, Europe, and Australia. This group is almost equally divided between very well-known, established (tenured) investigators and junior (untenured) scientists, using cutting-edge approaches. Seven of the nineteen participants are women. The research presented at this conference covers the structure of personality and its mapping onto biology, the biology of traits, genetic markers for individual differences and vulnerability towards psychopathology, functional neuro-imaging approaches, and the correspondence between human and animal personality. Invited speakers will contribute papers to a follow-up publication in an edited book. Additional in-depth interactions between featured speakers and the audience will take place in three formats: poster sessions, socials, and special-interest lunches. Three poster sessions will be held that are open to all registered attendees (one on each topic: psychopathology, brain systems, genetic approaches). A jury comprised of 3 featured speakers will present awards for the best poster in each of the three topic areas at the end of the conference. Socials (coffee breaks and receptions) are informal opportunities to mingle before dinner on the first and second day of the conference. Special-interest lunches are opportunities for graduate students and junior researchers to sign up for lunch with one of the featured speakers. Each speaker will host one such special-interest table over the course of the conference. Twenty travel stipends will be available for adequate students to attend the conference.