QLS Seminar Series - Erin Dickie

Transdiagnostic neuroimaging to understand mental health across the lifespan

Erin Dickie, CAMH
Tuesday April 2, 12-1pm
Zoom Link: https://mcgill.zoom.us/j/86855481591
In Person: 550 Sherbrooke, Room 189

Abstract: 85% of people experience mental illness. However, mental illness can follow many different paths. Having one disorder increases the risk of developing others. Neuroimaging can offer unique insights into the structure and function of the brain and, thus, offers hope of identifying biomarkers highest risk for poor outcomes, a necessary step for tailoring care to mitigate this risk. Present research can have a greater translational impact by looking beyond case-control comparisons that assume some uniformity within the patient population to examine clinically meaningful sources of heterogeneity. We will present recent work that uses neuroimaging to model sources of cognitive function and depressive symptoms in participants with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, areas of untreated clinical need. We will also present available data and introduce new cohort studies that are following children and youth over time to look at the link between brain development and trajectories of mental health, especially those imaging youth with multiple mental health diagnoses. Finally, we will discuss the impacts of standardized, reproducible workflows that respect individual variability in brain anatomy to clinical neuroimaging research.