Friday 9 January 2015

Workshop - Antonio Martins-Mourao, Ph.D.

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Biomarkers for Anxiety disorders (OCD and PTSD): implications for the design of effective neurotherapy protocols
Antonio Martins-Mourao, Chartered Clin. Psych., PhD
1-day Workshop


What does Anxiety look like in the EEG? This workshop presents an in-depth clinical guide to the identification of neurophysiological subtypes, or EEG-phenotypes, for Anxiety disorders with the focus on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders (OCD). OCD is an anxiety-related mental health condition affecting 3% of the population. Sufferers experience frequent obsessional thoughts, often resulting in compulsions, impulses or urges. However, symptoms of OCD vary considerably from the ‘mild’ double checking of locks and appliances when leaving home, to the more compulsive hand washing, or the need to keep items symmetrical and object hoarding. You will be introduced to group data and case studies showing neurophysiological differences between subgroups with Anxiety, OCD and healthy controls, and how these differences impact the scores obtained on behavioural questionnaires like the YBOCS (OCD scale) and the MMPI-2-RF (psychopathology scale). We will also discuss how the EEG may predict the best medication for individual cases. Given that nearly half of OCD patients currently fail to respond to drug treatments (Pallanti et al., 2002; Bandelow & Ruther, 2004), this emerging approach represents a clear development from the traditional ‘one-size-fits-all’ classification of behavior solely based on diagnostic manuals such as the DSM-IV. In this 1-day workshop you will learn:

(1) the basics of how to record, deartifact and interpret a QEEG recording,
(2) how to identify the main EEG-phenotypes underlying Anxiety and OCD, and
(3) how to design effective protocols that may predict individual response to neurotherapy and enhanced clinical outcomes within shorter periods.

Intended audience:  psychologists, psychotherapists, physicians, graduate students, neurofeedback practitioners, and other mental health care professionals with an interest in QEEG and neurofeedback integration for treatment planning.

Learning objectives: By the end of this workshop participants will have an understanding of the various neurophysiological and behavioural subtypes found in patients with Anxiety disorders and how this information may support the design personalised neurofeedback protocols for these patients.


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About Antonio Martins-Mourao, Chartered Clin. Psych., PhD

Antonio Martins-Mourao is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist (BPS) with additional training in Neurophysiology, Neuropsychology and a PhD in Psychology awarded by the University of London. He formerly ran the QEEG & Brain Research Lab (Open University, UK), which pioneered the use of psychological testing, Quantitative Electroencephalography QEEG, Event-related ERP and Neurofeedback techniques to investigate psychological and neurophysiological subtypes in patients with Anxiety Disorders (OCD and PTSD). Antonio is clinical director at London Scientific Neurotherapy (Harley St., London). He is also a member of the British Neuroscience Association BNA, the Society for Applied Neuroscience SAN and a member of the board for the International Society for Neurofeedback Research - Research Foundation ISNR-RF. His other interests include theology, comparative religion and screenwriting.