Innovative mental health research brings us closer to finding answers to some of the biggest and most pressing questions that currently exist within the mental health care landscape, such as: Why and how can our brain construct subjective phenomena like self, consciousness, emotions?
One of the individuals trying to answer those big questions is Dr. Georg Northoff, who is part of a team that received a grant from the Canada-United Kingdom Artificial Intelligence Initiative to study the brain and how it interacts with the external environment.
Northoff says developing mathematical and computational tools to capture patterns and find structure in the “chaos” of the brain is the first step to finding a way to better synchronize it with its environment.
To explain, he uses music as a metaphor. Our brain aligns to the beat, and we tap our toes to match the rhythm. If you dance a tango, the more synchronized you are with the music and the better you’d be able to dance to it. People who have a psychotic illness don’t have the same alignment and aren’t able to synchronize in the same way. In other words, the brain is out of step with its environment.
This “world-brain alignment” is closely linked with perception of self, for example.
“Consciousness is not in your head, consciousness is in the relation(ship) between you and the world,” says Northoff whose work embodies philosophy, psychiatry, and neuroscience. “You need to understand that relation(ship) in order to provide better therapy for people.”
Northoff’s research represents a new approach to understanding the brain, and his aim is to eventually build better diagnostic tools for mental health professionals to provide more personalised treatment for psychiatric disorders.
Learn more about this study and other research initiatives during The Royal’s Research Week, November 29-December 3, 2021.
About Research Week
During this week, we have an exciting schedule of activities planned to highlight the many ways that Research at The Royal’s team of world-class scientists, researchers and students are enhancing prevention, intervention and innovation in the mental health and substance use health.
For further details visit theroyal.ca or contact:
Michaela Berniquez, Communications Coordinator
michaela.berniquez@theroyal.ca | +1 (613) 218-5225