A new edition of Cervella't
On the occasion of World Brain Week 2022, from 14 to 17 March, the UAB Institute of Neuroscience and the CORE in Mental Health have organised a new edition of talks within the Cervella't cycle. The talks will deal with, among other topics, how and why psychosis occurs, the effects of electroconvulsive therapy or how to combat obesity using virtual reality. Participation will be virtual, prior registration.
Brain Week is a global initiative that aims to increase public awareness of the progress and benefits of neuroscience research. To celebrate this year, the INc and the UAB CORE in Mental Health have organised four virtual talks and a practice in the Digital Lab:
- Psychosis: what is it, how and why does it occur? 14 March at 7:00 p.m.
Alba Toll, doctoral student in the UAB Psychiatry programme and researcher associated with the Mental Health Research Group of the Mar Institute of Medical Research (IMIM), will analyse the causes of psychosis, a fairly common disorder that mainly affects young people. There are still many questions to be resolved about the pathophysiology of psychosis and to determine more reliably prognostic markers and markers of response to treatment.
- Electroconvulsive therapy. March 15, at 7:00 p.m.
Narcís Cardoner, associate professor at the UAB Department of Psychiatry and Director of Psychiatry at Hospital Sant Pau, will speak about electroconvulsive therapy, an effective treatment, but also a controversial and stigmatized medical practice. In this talk, its effects on the brain will be discussed in order to understand its mechanisms of action and thus overcome the prejudices that question it.
- Embodiment and Body swapping techniques in the treatment of obesity through Virtual Reality. 16 March at 7:00 p.m.
Dimitra Anastasiadou, associate professor at the UAB and postdoctoral researcher at the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute, will present ConVRself, a virtual reality platform through which a person can alternately occupy two virtual bodies (an avatar of oneself and an avatar of a counselor who proposes solutions to the problem the person has). The goal is to assess whether this technique can help people living with obesity increase their motivation to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
- Practice of Embodiment and Body swapping techniques in the treatment of obesity through Virtual Reality. 17 March at 10 a.m., at the Digital Lab
During this activity, doctors Júlia Vázquez, neuropsychologist and researcher at the Pere Virgili Health Park, and Pilar Lusilla, associate professor at the UAB and psychiatrist at the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, will present the SocratesVR project and will give a practical demonstration of virtual reality with the ConVRSelf platform, in which attendees can have a conversation with themselves using Embodiment and Body swapping techniques.
- Neuroimaging and central sensitization in pain. 17 March at 7:00 p.m.
In this talk, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology at the UAB Professor Joan Deus, will present the studies that are being carried out using neuroimaging to analyse what happens in the brain of patients suffering from central sensitisation syndromes, such as fibromyalgia, and also from patients with localised pain, such as knee pain. Also, how the pharmacological effects of a treatment can be observed with neuroimaging.
The talks are open to everyone, with prior registration.