Determining Biomarkers of Addiction Disorders and Mental Health using Electroencephalography

There is a health crisis in Canada where substance abuse and addiction disorders have been growing out of control, resulting in the death of 19,355 Canadians from 2016 to 2020. Researchers describe the crisis to be getting worse in that opioid-related deaths tripled from 2000 to 2015 in Ontario, Canada and increased by 120% since the onset of COVID-19. Consequently, therapies are struggling to keep up. Our proposed project will have a major impact on saving the lives of those with addiction disorders as we are seeking to provide an objective measure of addiction with the intent of facilitating therapeutic assessment and treatment. Specifically, we will build a therapist-patient centered application that measures addiction through brain-waves. This will enhance therapeutic assessment and treatment by allowing individuals to track their own markers of addiction and provide therapists with a wealth of information about their patients.

Faculty Supervisor:

Olave Krigolson

Student:

Partner:

Divergence Neuro

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Victoria

Program: