Browsing by Author "Swain, Mark Gordon"

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    Adolescent Mental Health: Canadian Psychiatric Risk and Outcome Study (PROCAN)- Exercise Intervention Pilot Study
    (2019-01-16) Corbett, Syl; Addington, Jean; MacQueen, Glenda M.; Bray, Signe L.; Swain, Mark Gordon
    BACKGROUND: The Canadian Psychiatric Risk and Outcome Study (PROCAN), a longitudinal study of youth at risk of serious mental illness (SMI), aims to better understand the trajectory of SMI. This study was conducted as a pilot exercise intervention on a subsample of the PROCAN cohort. OBJECTIVES: The primary objective was to examine the feasibility of an exercise intervention in youth at risk of SMI. The secondary objectives were to determine whether symptoms of mental illness and memory would improve, and hippocampal volume would increase, following participation in a moderate to high intensity aerobic exercise program. METHODS: Forty-four male and female youth at risk of SMI were recruited through the PROCAN project. Participants completed clinical, cognitive, neuroimaging and fitness assessments prior to and following a sixteen-week moderate to high intensity aerobic exercise intervention. Sixty-minute exercise sessions were held three times per week. Forty-one participants completed the entire intervention and assessments, including twenty-six that completed the neuroimaging portion. Twenty-eight age and gender matched healthy controls were recruited as a baseline comparison for neuroimaging. RESULTS: Exclusion, consented, and retention rates were; 22.7, 57.6 and 93.2% respectively. Significant (p < .05) improvements in aerobic fitness (p < .0001) were achieved over the course of the intervention. Likewise, reductions in anxiety (p = .024), depression (p = .012), and general prodromal symptoms (p < .0001) occurred, however distress did not diminish (p= .131). Right whole (p < .001) and right anterior (p = .001) hippocampal volumes significantly increased. Forward Span (p = .552), Backward Span (p = 1.000) and Letter Number Span (p = .606) did not significantly change. CONCLUSION: Aerobic exercise is a feasible and sound intervention strategy for reducing symptoms and improving overall physical health, including brain health, in youth at risk for SMI. Further research is required to replicate these findings and to expand knowledge of the mechanisms, optimum dose and factors that influence the efficacy of exercise.
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    Brain Structural and Functional MRI of Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease
    (2019-05-30) Heidari, Faranak; Goodyear, Bradley Gordon; Swain, Mark Gordon; Lebel, Catherine A.; Kaplan, Gilaad G.; Callahan, Brandy L.
    Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a highly-disabling and painful, chronic immune-mediated inflammatory disease (IMID) of the bowel, with an annual incidence and prevalence that continue to rise. IBD diagnosis commonly occurs during young adulthood, and thus greatly impacts an individual’s productivity, leading to substantial economic burden. IBD patients can also experience behavioral symptoms, including mood and sleep disorders, depression and fatigue. While medication and surgery successfully alleviate somatic symptoms, they only partially treat behavioral symptoms. In fact, these symptoms are often considered as emotional reactions to illness and are left untreated, diminishing the quality-of-life of patients and complicating their clinical management. Evidence suggests that these symptoms have a neurological basis, as a result of the impact of inflammatory responses on gut-to-brain signalling pathways. In this thesis, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques were used to compare the structure and function of brain regions and networks in IBD patients, relative to control subjects. Regions of the basal ganglia exhibited greater volume and decreased susceptibility (a potential indicator of decreased metabolism) in IBD patients. Altered functional connections between these regions as well as connections with motor-related and cognitive areas were also observed. Given the association between the observed regions and symptoms commonly experienced by IBD patients, our studies suggest there is indeed a neurological component to observed IBD-related symptoms. Future longitudinal studies to examine treatment response and specific behavioral domains are warranted, to fully elucidate the interaction between the brain and inflammatory processes in the setting of IBD.