Inukshuk Conference : Brain, mental health, and addiction, from synapse to society : summary paper

The Foundation has a mandate to support a balanced, long-term program of health research in Alberta directed to knowledge discovery and application to improve health and the quality of health services in the province. [...] Inukshuk II built on some of the key concepts that came to the fore in the first conference: the brain, brain plasticity and resiliency, the interplay of genetics and environment, and the impact of early events and early intervention on the developing brain. [...] A conference on the topic of mental health and addiction was especially relevant to current Canadian societal concerns as reflected in the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology May 2006 report “Out of the Shadows at Last: Transforming Mental Health, Mental Illness and Addiction Services in Canada” and the establishment of the Mental Health Commission of Canada by the [...] The unique features of brain function do not emerge at the level of the molecule or even the neuron, but in the dynamics of neural circuits, how they react to experience and environment, and how they change over time. [...] This approach changes the nature of treatment to acknowledge the need for maintenance treatment with a goal of symptom remission and a return to functionality to the best of the person’s ability.