| Recipient: | Sunnybrook Foundation |
|---|---|
| Project: | Neuromodulation Research Program |
| Province: | Ontario |
| Period: | 01 January 2021 – 31 October 2023 |
| Funding: | $1.25 million |
Overview:
The Sunnybrook Foundation created and launched a comprehensive, leading-edge research program in neuromodulation and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Project Goals:
The main goals of this project were to:
- establish a comprehensive research program in neuromodulation and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD);
- create a pipeline of potential therapies for the most severe, treatment-resistant PTSD; and
- develop a better understanding of how the condition works in the brain and how best to target its circuitry with neuromodulation.
Project Activities:
To achieve these goals, the project team completed the following activities:
- explored the effects of three distinct neuromodulation technologies (Deep Brain Stimulation [DBS], Transcranial Direct-Current Stimulation [tDCS] and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation [TMS] modalities) on preclinical PTSD models;
- tested whether therapeutics delivered with focused ultrasound reduced post-traumatic anxiety and anhenodic behavior; and
- studied novel neuromodulation strategies in PTSD models.
Project Results:
- The first Canadian procedure for DBS in PTSD has been successfully demonstrated and published.
- Safety and efficacy evidence for DBS has been strong enough to warrant additional hospital support for particular hospital programs.
- Supplementary therapeutic options are being offered to patients with treatment-resistant depression in special access cases.
- The goal to establish a pipeline in neuromodulation spanning research to advanced clinical therapeutic options for those with PTSD and psychiatric disorders has been successful.
- The team’s productivity enabled publication in high impact peer-reviewed journals describing both technical advances in DBS as well as the successful completion of Canadian-first procedures for patients suffering with PTSD and obsessive-compulsive disorder, as well as a global first DBS implantation for treatment of alcohol use disorder.