Media Advisory : 'Rewiring' the Brain: New Possibilities for Mental Health?

CAMH Presents a CIHR Café Scientifique

TORONTO, Feb. 12, 2014 /CNW/ - Can we harness the natural ability of our brains to change, in order to treat or even prevent mental illness? Join a conversation on brain plasticity and mental health on Wednesday, February 19, 2014, at a CIHR Café Scientifique, presented by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

A person's genes and their life experiences, such as stress or trauma, both have a role in altering the brain's circuits and chemistry, which can lead to symptoms of mental illness. But the environment can protect as well - and researchers at CAMH and around the world are exploring this concept with the aim of preventing or alleviating these symptoms.

The café, sponsored by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), will be moderated by Mary Alberti, CEO of the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario. Speakers are:

Marie Asuncion - Mental Illness Advocate, will talk about her experiences as a teenager who experienced symptoms of psychosis, her treatment and her successes in completing university and becoming harpist, language teacher and spokesperson for people with mental illnesses.

Dr. Albert Wong - CAMH Scientist and Staff Psychiatrist, will shed light on the developmental pathways leading to mental illness, and describe experiments seeking to alter these pathways to prevent symptoms from developing.

Dr. Tarek Rajji - Chief, Geriatric Psychiatry at CAMH, will describe promising clinical research using non-invasive brain stimulation techniques that target brain circuits to improve symptoms, with minimal side effects.

WHEN:						Wednesday, February 19, 2014
						5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
WHERE:						Ballroom, Gladstone Hotel
						1214 Queen St. West, Toronto

About the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital, as well as one of the world's leading research centres in its field.  CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental health and addiction issues. CAMH is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, and is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre. For more information, please visit www.camh.ca.

About the Canadian Institutes for Health Research
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's health research investment agency. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to enable its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened health care system for Canadians. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to more than 12,600 health researchers and trainees across Canada. 

SOURCE: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

CAMH Media Relations Contact: Kate Richards; [phone] or [email protected]