Research | Baycrest

Aging and Brain Health: Mental Health and Well-being – Conference

This conference provides a unique opportunity to bring together researchers from a wide range of fields in health and social sciences to discuss their latest findings and emerging perspectives on mental health and well-being across the lifespan. Conference attendees will hear about the latest research on the lifelong and intergenerational effects of stress and trauma, the intersection of emotional, cognitive, and physical health in mood disorders, well-being and identity in older age, and the use of brain stimulation interventions in psychiatry and neurology.

Sessions will cover:

Life-long and intergenerational effects of stress and trauma

  • Historical trauma and epigenetics in Holocaust survivors and descendants
  • Approaches to historical trauma and mental health in indigenous populations
  • Neurobiology of PTSD
  • Stress and mindfulness-based stress reduction in aging

Mood and cognition as transdiagnostic markers of brain health

  • The role of metabolics and inflammation in cognitive impairment in mood disorders
  • The intersection between mood, trauma and cognitive health
  • Impact of neuropsychiatric symptoms on future cognitive decline
  • Impact of early-life adversity on brain development and suicide risk

Living well in older age

  • Psychosocial influences on well-being for people living with dementia and family care-givers
  • Emotional processing and regulation in the aging brain
  • The self and identity in healthy aging and dementia
  • Rethinking dominant socio-cultural perspectives of dementia

Biomedical interventions: Beyond medication

  • Theoretical foundations of therapeutic brain stimulation
  • Focused-ultrasound in psychiatry and neurology
  • Neuro-modulation for the treatment of depression

Each presenter will leave 5 minutes for a question & answer period immediately following their presentation.

Please note: Registrants are expected to make their own lunch arrangements during the conference.

7:00 a.m. Conference registration and breakfast
7:45 a.m. CANCELLED The Rotman Legacy: Past, Present and Future of the Rotman Research Institute
Drs. Fergus Craik, Brian Levine, Helen Mayberg and Rosanna Olsen will present the Rotman Research Institute’s rich history of excellence and knowledge advancement.
A special breakfast will be served.
8:45 a.m. Welcoming Remarks
Dr. Allison Sekuler, Rotman Research Institute, Canada
Lifelong and intergenerational impacts of trauma
9:00 a.m. Keynote presentation
Lifelong and intergenerational impacts of trauma
Dr. Jutta Lindert, University of Applied Sciences Emden Leer, Germany, and Brandeis University, USA
10:00 a.m. Full Catastrophe Aging: The impact of perceived stress on cognitive aging and the importance of stress management
Dr. Alexandra Fiocco, Ryerson University, Canada
10:30 a.m. Refreshment break
11:00 a.m. The hidden corners of the traumatized brain: Innate, reflexive responding
Dr. Ruth Lanius, Western University, Canada
11:30 a.m. Indigenous Mental Health: Historical trauma as alter-native psy-ence
Dr. Joseph Gone, Harvard University, USA
12:00 p.m. Lunch
Mood and cognition as transdiagnostic markers of brain health
1:30 p.m. Keynote presentation
The role of metabolics and inflammation in cognitive impairment: Implications for disease modelling and novel therapeutics
Dr. Roger S. McIntyre, University Health Network, Canada
2:30 p.m. The intersection between mood and trauma: Implications for cognitive health
Dr. Margaret McKinnon, McMaster University, Canada
3:00 p.m. Refreshment break
4:00 p.m. Prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms across the cognitive spectrum and their impact on future cognitive decline
Dr. Linda Mah, Rotman Research Institute, Canada
4:30 p.m. Impact of early-life adversity on brain development and suicide risk
Dr. Gustavo Turecki, McGill University, Canada
5:00 p.m. Break
Public event on intergenerational trauma
6:00 - 7:30 p.m.

Panel:
Dr. Jutta Lindert, University of Applied Sciences Emden Leer, Germany, and Brandeis University, USA
Dr. Joseph P. Gone, Harvard University, USA
Lenore Keeshig, an Ojibway journalist and storyteller
Dan Yashinsky, an author and storyteller

Chair: Dr Allison Sekuler, Rotman Research Institute, Canada

 

8:30 a.m. Registration check-in and breakfast
Living well in older age
9:00 a.m. Keynote presentation
'Living well' with dementia: social, psychological and environmental influences on well-being for people with dementia and family carers
Dr. Linda Clare, University of Exeter, UK
10:00 a.m. The arousal hub region in the aging brain
Dr. Mara Mather, University of Southern California, USA
10:30 a.m. Refreshment break
11:00 a.m. The self in aging and dementia
Dr. Donna Rose Addis, Rotman Research Institute, Canada
11:30 a.m. Precarity and vulnerability: Rethinking dementia
Dr. Amanda Grenier, Rotman Research Institute, Canada
12:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 p.m. Moderated poster session
Biomedical interventions: Beyond medication
2:30 p.m. Keynote Presentation
Towards a brain health indicator
Dr. Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Harvard Medical School, USA
3:30 p.m. Revisiting the theoretical foundations of therapeutic brain stimulation
Dr. Jed Meltzer, Rotman Research Institute, Canada
4:00 p.m. Refreshment break
4:15 p.m. Breaking barriers with sound: From depression to Alzheimer's disease
Dr. Nir Lipsman, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Canada
4:45 p.m. The future of neuromodulation for the treatment of depression
Dr. Jeff Daskalakis, Centre for Addiction & Mental Health, Canada
5:15 p.m. Closing remarks
Dr. Donna Rose Addis, Rotman Research Institute, Canada

 

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