Mental health conditions such as anxiety disorders, depression and bipolar disorder affect brain structure. Thanks to a KNAW Ter Meulen Grant, postdoctoral researcher Willem Bruin (Institute of Education and Child Studies) will be able to conduct large-scale research into how these conditions influence brain development.
Need for greater insight into mental health conditions
In the Netherlands alone, an estimated 500,000 young people aged between 10 and 25 experience mental health conditions each year. These conditions often emerge during this stage of life, while the brain is still undergoing significant development.
Current methods for identifying and treating mental health conditions remain limited. One of the key challenges is that symptoms can develop differently from one young person to another. To tailor treatments more effectively to individual needs, a better understanding of these differences is required.
Aim of the research
To gain greater insight into this issue, Willem Bruin will use the KNAW grant to spend six weeks collaborating with researchers at the University of Southern California (Los Angeles) and the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). Together, they will analyse brain scans from approximately 15,000 young people across more than thirty countries.
Rather than focusing on a single condition, the study examines several mental health conditions simultaneously.
Many young people display characteristics associated with multiple conditions. By studying these together, the researchers hope to gain a better understanding of which changes in brain development are shared across conditions and which are specific to particular disorders.
What the researchers hope to achieve
Individual differences are at the heart of this research. The researchers are effectively developing a 'growth chart for the brain'.
Just as paediatricians use growth charts to track a child's physical development, they aim to determine how a young person's brain development compares with what would typically be expected at that age.
In this way, they hope to improve our understanding of mental health conditions and ultimately contribute to earlier identification of mental health difficulties, more personalised treatments, and better opportunities for young people to continue developing in a healthy way.
