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A SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION BY MEDIAPLANET
Brain Health
RESEARCH IS THE KEY TO UNLOCKING BETTER BRAIN HEALTH Read how the Canadian Association for Neuroscience helps promote brain health through research on healthinsight.ca.
Learn more at can-acn.org.
Why More Research Into Brain Function Is Needed To Better Understand Mental Health With more Canadians struggling with depression and anxiety, the need for expanded knowledge and improved solutions has never been greater. Michele Sponagle
C
anada is in the midst of a mental health crisis. One in three Canadians say they’re struggling with their mental health, especially depression and anxiety. Mental illness is the leading cause of disability. By the time people in Canada reach 40 years of age, one in two have or have experienced a mental health condition. While there have been improvements in outcomes for cancer, HIV, and heart disease, Canada is losing ground and seeing significant declines in mental health. More basic brain research is necessary to understand how the brain functions in health, as well as in illness. It’s clear that one-size-fits-all treatments do not work for all and enhancing research capability will help provide answers to longstanding questions about brain function.
Investing in brain research nets results Brain Canada is an organization devoted to moving bold brain research forward – including mental health research. It does this by supporting ground-breaking projects. This focus on scientific solutions has seen life-changing results for patients, such as Raija Hilska, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2003. Though she was managing her condition with medication, she became depressed during the pandemic, leading her to seek other solutions at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. Hilska was referred to a study funded by Brain Canada that uses repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS), a non-invasive therapy using magnetic pulses, to modulate the brain’s circuitry and treat depression. This research is led by neuropsychologist and neuroscientist Dr. Sara Tremblay. “It has helped me,” says Hilska, who described her moods as always being more down than up. “When you’re not feeling well, you tend to dwell on
things. When you are able to control your brain, your thinking is more compact, and you are able to focus on things. I don’t look back as much as I used to,” she says after seven weeks in a rTMS study. Such Learn more about how Brain Canada is promising results keeping brain health at aren’t possible without Canada investing and prithe forefront to benefit oritizing brain research. all Canadians at braincanada.ca. She hopes that Brain Canada-funded research at The Royal will one day help make this relatively This article was low-cost and non-invasive therapy (first approved sponsored by by Health Canada for the treatment of depression in Brain Canada . 2002) accessible and part of standard care for mood disorders, which affect as many as one in three Canadians in their lifetime. The therapy is not covered by most provincial health insurance plans. Brain Canada’s work continues. This month, it announced the recipients of a multimillion-dollar research program to address the sex gap in basic mental health research. Often basic research studies focus on male subjects and falsely presume that results will be the same for female subjects — sex differences need to be addressed for better treatments. “The inclusion of sex-specific biological considerations is instrumental in understanding the biological roots of mental health conditions,” says Dr. Viviane Poupon, President and CEO of Brain Canada. “We take great pride in supporting researchers who are at the forefront of addressing sex gaps in brain research.”
Strategic Account Manager: Olivia Delbello Strategic Account Director: Jessica Golyatov Content Strategy Manager: Nicole Kansakar Country Manager: Nina Theodorlis Production & Delivery Manager: Michael Taylor Creative Director: Kylie Armishaw Graphic & Web Designer: Christina Morgan Digital & Social Media Strategist: Kristen Neals Digital Traffic Strategist: Karm Rathod All images are from Getty Images unless otherwise credited. This section was created by Mediaplanet and did not involve The Toronto Star or its editorial departments. Send all inquiries to ca.editorial@mediaplanet.com.