The 1st International Symposium on Addiction and Decision Making of the University of Macau was successfully held by the Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences (CCBS) in N1 Guest House between 19 and 20 Nov 2021 as an event to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the University of Macau. The symposium adopted both online and on-site approaches to gather researchers and guests from all over the world. The event attracted more than 200 participants, counting both online and on-site attendees.

This symposium brought together professors, clinical doctors and learners from diverse backgrounds including neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry, biomedical engineering, economics and drug addiction to share recent new findings and achievements on scientific research in the field of addiction and decision-making.

Prof. Zhen YUAN, the interim head of CCBS, delivered welcoming speech to guest speakers, academic members of CCBS, students and other attendees. Speakers shared and discussed topics in neural mechanisms related to decision-making and behavioral addiction, intervention of addiction, behavioral and theoretical model related to decision-making.

Another highlights were the poster session and student presentation. There were 32 posters exhibited in the venue and 13 students and postdoc fellows signed up for student presentation. All on-site attendees voted for their best poster, and the top 5 posters were evaluated by the poster review committee for selecting the 3 winners of the best poster awards. After deliberation, the best postdoc/PhD student presentation committee finally announced the 3 winners of the best presentation awards as the ending of the symposium.

CCBS is dedicated to enhancing interdisciplinary cognitive and brain sciences and translating discoveries into solutions for health and society . With strong supports from UM, the Government of Macau, and the Central Government, it is expected that CCBS should be developed into glowing stars in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, be able to promote interdisciplinary research in the cognition and brain sciences at UM and use neuroscience to benefit Macao society.