Blog

The PsyCoMed consortium reunited in the beautiful city of Marrakech, Morocco, for a three days meeting (26/02/2024 to 28/02/2024), hosted by the Faculty of Sciences of University Cadi Ayyad.

The first day held the 1st PsyCoMed Conference, on the theme of « Origin, distribution and neurological effects of Mediterranean pollutants ». Below is the list of speakers:

• Loubna El Fels (UCA)  – « Tracking down Microplastics and their behaviours in environmental systems »
• Kristina Vacy (FINMH) – « Prenatal programming of adverse offspring neurodevelopment and mental health by prenatal plastic chemical composure »
• Azzeddine Sedki (UCA) – « Heavy metal toxicity : Heavy metal and cognitive impariments »
• Yassine Ait Bali (UCA) – « Insights on neurotoxic effects of pesticides : Glyphosate as an inevitable modern toxic agent »
• Marco Bernasconi (Flanat Research) – « Plants extracts and metabolites in variables related to pollution induced anxiety and stress in adults »
• Perla Gerges & Tania Bitar (USEK) – « Autism spectrum disorder in Lebanon: mutations, risk factors and biomarkers »
• Juana María Delgado Saborit (UJI) – « Airborne exposure to micro and nanoplastics »

The second day was dedicated to the second PsyCoMed workshop, entitled « Behavioural analysis in animal models of psychiatric diseases ». The morning session was composed of theoretical presentations from various speakers on animal models:

• Liana Fattore (IN-CNR) – « Animal models of addiction and reward »
• Francisco E. Olucha Bordonau (UJI) – « Available neuroanatomical and behavioural methods in the analysis of socio-affective behaviours after nanoplastic intoxications »
• Stefano Morara (IN-CNR) – « The zebrafish as a mental health model: advantages and limitations »
• Karine Massé (UB) – « Xenopus, a model for cell and developmental biology, ecotoxicity and human diseases »

The afternoon session was dedicated to practical testing of various behavioural experiments on:

• Attention and impulsivity (5 choice serial reaction time task)
• Sensory and affective pain (hot/cold plate, Von Frey, Place escape/avoidance paradigm)
• Behaviour in freely moving animals (High frequency stimulation and recording)

The third day held a Supervisory Board meeting in the presence of the Project Officer from the European Commission to take notes of the implementation of the progress during the first-year stage of the project.