The International Behavioral Neuroscience Society (IBNS) is devoted to enhancing its global diversity, marking a significant step by hosting its 35th Annual Meeting in the vibrant city of Cape Town, South Africa.

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Interested in Sponsoring or Exhibiting at IBNS 2026?
Check out our Sponsor/Exhibitor Prospectus or contact the IBNS Central Office

Keynote Speakers:

Click here to view additional information on the IBNS 2026 Keynote speakers.

Symposia:  Click here to see the complete list of confirmed speakers and symposia.

• Debating Stress Resilience in Animal Models: Mechanisms of Adaptation and Maladaptation
• Two decades of spontaneous behavioral persistence in deer mice: A model system for understanding the psychobiology of dysfunctional goal-directed processes
• Acetylcholine and dopamine jointly shape learning
• Delineating the impact of HIV and comorbid substance use on behavioral and molecular outcomes: A translational perspective identifying mechanisms and treatment targets
• Limbic and Basal Ganglia Circuits in Cognition and Social Behavior
• The science of human connection: neural synchrony, network dynamics, and public health
• Neural Substrates of Approach-Avoidance Conflict: Insights from Rodent Models
• Deconstructing Stressor-Induced Amotivation and Reward Dysfunction Across Species: Translational Insights from Rodents to Humans
• A Neurobiological Perspective on Building Resilience Across Species
• Chemical pollution, Infectious Challenges and Hormone Disruptors: Converging Pathways to Behavioral and Neurological Disorders
• The effects of stress on memory across the lifespan
• Dopamine’s role in teaching, tuning and tempting decisions
• Comparative Perspectives on Learning, Neuroestrogens, and Cognitive Modulation Across Species.
• Arousal and Behavior: Circuits of Wakefulness, Motivation, and Drive
• Shaping the Brain: Impact of Early-Life Insults on Lifelong Plasticity and Behavior
• Translating Neurobiological Mechanisms into Druggable Targets for Psychiatric and Stress Disorders
• Building Resilience: Multiscale Perspectives on Stress Adaptation
• New Frontiers in Behavioral Models of Affective and Motivational Domains for Antidepressant Discovery
• Stay or Go? Behavioral and Neural Mechanisms of Cognitive Flexibility
• Gonadal hormones and brain health: A complicated long-distance relationship
• Neural Dysregulation Following Early Life Insults: Mechanisms and Interventions
• Orbitofrontal Cortex: Schemas, Simulation, and Flexibility in Adaptive Behavior
• Oxytocin and Dopamine in Reward-Based Decision-Making

Important Dates:   

Registration Rates:

Conference Venue:

Century City Conference Centre
4 Energy Ln, Century City, Cape Town, 7446, South Africa

Conference Hotel:

Century City Hotel Urban Square
3 Energy Ln, Century City, Cape Town, 7446, South Africa
3,558 ZAR per night ($205 USD as of 10/15/25)
Booking Link: IBNS - Century City Hotels