Sixth decade of the International Neuropsychiatric Pula Congresses

The International Neuropsychiatric Pula Congresses, founded by Zagreb and Graz University Neuropsychiatry Departments in 1961, celebrated in 2010 their 50 years anniversary, successfully continuing their sixth decade. The author witnessed and participated from 1966 in their development, 23 years as their Secretary General, from 2007 the Honorary President of the INPC Kuratorium. Starting when neuropsychiatry was unique discipline, the INPC followed processes of emancipation of neurology and psychiatry and of the evolution of independent disciplines with new subspecialties. These respectable conferences greatly surpassed the significance of the two disciplines, connecting experts in the region and those from European countries and the world. Inaugurated in times of the »cold war«, they enabled professional and human contacts between the divided »blocks«, thanks to the »non-aligned« political position of the then Yugoslavia, fostering ideas of mutual understanding and collaboration. For these achievements the meetings early earned the title of the »Pula school of science and humanism« promoting both interdisciplinary collaboration and humanism, unconditional presumption for peaceful living on the Earth. Medicine, as science and practice, although founded on biological grounds, is primarily a human activity serving to individual man and the whole human race.Modern neurology and psychiatry are no longer restricted to diagnosing and curing brain and psychic dysfunctions, becoming a science of human mind and discipline caring about the brain, the organ of the individual and collective human consciousness and his mental life. Such atmosphere contributed to the fall of the totalitarian, narrow-minded political, ideological or nationalistic thinking, aiming towards tolerance and humane democratic developments in the united Europe and the preparation for the peaceful living of people of various nations, races, religions and viewpoints in the 21st century