Brain Research
We use neuroimaging and neurostimulation technology to understand the brain in children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
TITANS: Targeted Interventions in Tourette’s Using Advanced Neuroimaging and Stimulation
Who are we looking for?
1. Children with Tourette's syndrome.
2. Child age 6 to 18 years.
What does the study involve?
1. 8.5 hours of Comprehensive Behavioural Intervention for Tics (CBIT) therapy.
2. 20 hours of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) therapy.
3. Mental health and tic-related assessments.
4. Brain imaging (MRI) scans to take pictures of your child's brain.
5. Brain activity assessments to understand the responsiveness of your child's brain.
What are the benefits to you and your child?
1. Our goal is to improve your child's ability to control their tics. We expect to see a decrease in tic expression and severity with this intervention.
2. We can share your child's mental health and tic related assessments with you.
3. We can share the pictures of your child's brain from the MRI scan.
FAST-ADHD: Finding Alternative to Standard Treatment for Children with ADHD
Who are we looking for?
1. Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
2. Child age 8 to 16 years.
What does the study involve?
1. 20 hours of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) therapy.
2. Brain imaging scans (MRI) to take pictures of your child's brain.
3. Executive Function Assessments (brain activities related to planning, organizing, starting and finishing tasks).
4. Academic Assessments (reading, spelling and math skills).
What are the benefits to you and your child?
1. Our goal is to improve your child's ADHD symptoms including inattention and hyperactivity.
2. We can share your child's executive function and academic assessments with you.
3. We can share the pictures of your child's brain from the MRI scan.
Neuroinhibition Research Study
Who are we looking for?
1. Healthy children and youth.
2. Child age 8 to 25 years.
What does the study involve?
1. Computerized tasks and questionnaires to assess your child's ability to inhibit certain motor actions, like pressing a button.
2. During the tasks, your child will wear an EEG cap (electroencephalography) to measure their brain activity.
3. 15 minutes of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) will temporarily change how your child's brain cells react and talk to each other: we want to see if TMS can improve performance on the computerized tasks.
What are the benefits to you and your child?
1. Your child's participation will help advance our understanding of the developing brain.
2. Your child's participation may help us develop better treatments for other children and youth who are struggling with inhibition skills, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
3. You and your child may receive no direct benefit to participating in this study, but we hope your child has fun helping us understand how the brain works!
Impact of COVID-19 on Childhood ADHD
This survey asked caregivers of children 5-18 years old with ADHD about their child's mental health, education and lifestyle changes during the COVID-19 pandemic (May to June 2020). The majority of children with ADHD (90%) were receiving web-based learning during the early pandemic (April to June, 2020), and results showed that children with ADHD faced significant challenges adapting to online learning. Significant changes were seen in sleep, eating, exercise and screen use habits during the pandemic, and less healthy behaviours (e.g. sleeping fewer hours/night, eating more processed foods, and exercising less) were correlated with greater depression, anxiety and ADHD symptoms. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on lifestyle habits and mental health symptoms were published in Paediatrics and Child Health: https://academic.oup.com/pch/advance-article/doi/10.1093/pch/pxab030/6285649?login=true
The education results of this survey have also been published (link below), and data from our follow-up survey (conducted May-June 2021) will be shared as soon as possible, stay tuned!
TAGIT: Topographical Mapping of ADHD
This study used MRI and TMS technologies to map the size and shape of the dominant hand motor area in children with ADHD and typically developing children (7-16 years old). Some interesting results include (1) ADHD children can be still in an MRI scanner for up to one hour while researchers take brain pictures and collect data related to neurometabolite levels, (2) the resting motor threshold (RMT, a measure of how excitable a brain is) may be lower in children with ADHD compared to typically developing children, and (3) the motor maps do appear to be different in the two groups.
As soon as this study is published, we will share the link here. You can contact us for more information if interested.
I found it all very interesting to see the questionnaires and activities you had our child participate in. I enjoyed asking questions during the brain mapping to see what type of things the researchers are looking for during their studies. I found everyone VERY patient and kind when working with our child, and open to sharing more about this study and what they are hoping to find through their research.
- Mom
TICS: TMS for Children with Tourette's Syndrome
This pilot study tested the safety and feasibility of applying low frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to the supplementary motor area in children with Tourette's syndrome. 10 children with Tourette's (9-15 years old) participated, and all did really well showing a decrease in the intensity and frequency of their tics after rTMS treatment. Importantly, no serious adverse events occurred, and therefore we are currently conducting a sham-controlled rTMS study (called TITANS) where half of the participants receive active and the other half sham (or fake) rTMS to determine how much effect the rTMS is having directly (versus a placebo effect). We love working with the amazing Tourette's kids and families, thank you for helping us design new treatments for peoples with Tourette's syndrome!
This study has been accepted by the Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology Journal: we will share the link here as soon as it is available.
TMS for Youth With Treatment Resistant Depression
This pilot study applied high frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in youth with treatment resistant depression (13-21 years old). The DLPFC is a region of the brain involved in emotion processing that has been shown to be less active in people with depression, and therefore the purpose of the rTMS is to increase activity in this area to help people with depression feel better. TMS is now available for people with treatment resistant depression in Alberta through referral: https://www.specialistlink.ca/updates/news-releases.cfm?releasePage=1113201994520.
This study has been published, and you can access the publication below.
MacMaster Lab Research Posters
