Page 19 - UHN Centre for Mental Health Impact Report 2023

POUL HANSEN FAMILY CENTRE FOR DEPRESSION

Transforming Treatment Sharing Knowledge, Skills

An Improved Understanding of Brain Stimulation. Connecting Our Work with Patients and Providers.

The Poul Hansen Family Centre for Depression uses virtual plat-
forms to showcase their team’s expertise and ongoing research
through patient and provider-focused events.

Our Friends and Family Day, held each spring, connects patients,
families, and care providers, providing a deeper understanding of
depression and practical strategies to enhance their own care. The
free event featured an insightful talk on emotional balance tech-
niques by a trio of mental health clinicians as well as insights on the
journey of a caregiver from Family Support Worker Lydia Rajpat.

Our provider-focused event, Clinical Advances in Depression Care,
held in the fall, attracted more than 100 healthcare professionals,
including physicians, nurses, and allied health workers. It show-
cased nine presentations from our team on a broad spectrum of
topics, including advances in biological treatments, various psycho-
therapeutic approaches, and care models for patients with co-oc-
curring mental and physical health concerns.

Dr. Daphne Voineskos
Through these collaborative events, the Poul Hansen Family Centre
Dr. Daphne Voineskos, Medical Lead of signals. Results showed that patients who for Depression fosters knowledge exchange, skill development, and
the rTMS Clinic in the Poul Hansen Fam- improved after treatment had a weaker enhances the overall understanding and treatment of depression.
ily Centre for Depression, led a study on N100 signal and a stronger N45 signal.
individuals treated for major depressive
disorder with Repetitive Transcranial Interestingly, as patient’s depression
Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS), a treatment decreased, their N100 and N45 signals
that targets magnetic pulses to stimulate increasingly resembled those of healthy
or inhibit brain activity. individuals. The study also found that the
N100 signal could predict how well some-
Although rTMS is effective for some with one would respond to rTMS.
treatment-resistant depression, showing
a response rate of 50%, it is unclear why “Our findings reveal a robust way to
some respond and others do not. identify patients that will benefit from
rTMS,” says Dr. Voineskos.
The study, co-authored with Rebecca
Strafella, attempted to better understand “These insights could lead to improved
this mystery, analyzing changes in brain clinical protocols that avoid the frustra-
activity during and after rTMS treatment. tion that comes with current trial and
They focused on two neurophysiological error approaches for the treatment of
biomarkers, known as the N100 and N45 depression,” she adds.
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