First Friday Lecture
Presents
Neurobiology Changes Related to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: How Neuroscience will lead to Better Therapy
Speaker: Jeanne Talbot, Ph.D.
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is the most and best studied form of psychotherapy. The efficacy of CBT in the treatment of anxiety and mood disorders has been solidly demonstrated. More importantly for our strained mental health care system, recent economic modeling studies show the cost effectiveness of this treatment. This presentation will describe recent neurobiological developments, which will lead to further refinements in CBT treatments. With the burgeoning field of neuroscience, there is now a better understanding of the neural changes underlying many psychological disturbances as well as neurobiological changes related to CBT for anxiety and depression. Functional and structural imaging studies have examined who will most benefit from CBT. Depressed patients who do not respond to CBT are more likely to have an increased baseline metabolic activity in the anterior cingulate region. Animal studies of extinction and reconsolidation of fear memories provide clues to how the efficacy exposure therapy, a key component of CBT for anxiety, can be enhanced. N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors are critical for learning-related synaptic plasticity in the amygdala and hippocampus. As a consequence, there is considerable interest in drugs targeting this receptor to help enhance amygdala and hippocampus-dependent learning. Animal studies using a learned helplessness paradigm of depression provide clues to the recent findings that behavioural activation, a key component of CBT for depression, is as effective as medication in the treatment of depression.
About The Presenter
Dr. Talbot obtained a PhD in neuroscience at the University of Montreal and completed her psychiatry training at McGill University. She joined the University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research in 2009. Dr. Talbot is an assistant professor and the head of cognitive behavioural therapy training in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Ottawa. She is an Academy of Cognitive Therapy certified therapist and lectures at the McGill University Health Center Cognitive Behavioural Unit. Dr. Talbot has trained with Dr. J. McCullough who developed the Cognitive Behavioural Analysis System of psychotherapy specifically for individuals with chronic depression.
June 4, 2010
12:00 PM Light Lunch
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM Lecture
Supported by unrestricted educational grant from AstraZeneca
A First Friday Lecture at the
Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre
Associates in Psychiatry Auditorium
1145 Carling Avenue – Room 1410
This research lecture is an accredited group learning activity as defined by the maintenance of Certification Program of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
Lunch is provided to those who R.S.V.P. and stay for the lecture. Please contact Marilyn Prince at marilyn.prince @rohcg.on.ca by June 1, 2010
at 613 722-6521, ext. 6551.
Learning Objectives
Participants will:
- Summarize neuroimaging studies of predictors of response to CBT
- Review clinical studies of NMDA agonist enhanced exposure therapy
- Discuss links between neural correlates of learned helplessness and depression and the relevance to behavioural interventions for depression
