The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding the scientific network "Clinical Neurostimulation in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry". The aim of the network is to establish uniform standards in preparation for multi-centre, confirmatory studies on the therapeutic efficacy of neurostimulation methods in children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders. MedUni Vienna’s Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry is one of 17 participating clinics.
In various psychiatric illnesses, certain areas of the brain are not sufficiently active or do not work well together. Neurostimulation refers to various methods that can be used to specifically influence brain activity using a stimulation device. "The funding from the German Research Foundation enables us to develop uniform standards in German-speaking countries, which is a necessary prerequisite for future studies, especially in view of the very heterogeneous evidence to date. Through extensive public relations work, we hope to increase awareness of the procedures, reduce existing prejudices and ultimately contribute to an improvement in the care situation of children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders - especially those patients who do not respond or do not respond sufficiently to existing therapeutic services," says Julian Koenig from the University Hospital of Cologne and the Medical Faculty of the University of Cologne, where the network is coordinated.
On the MedUni Vienna side, Lilian Konicar and Gabriel Auer from the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry are on board as project partners. "In addition to initiating joint studies, the network will above all’enable a systematic review of the scientific status of neurostimulation in childhood and adolescence, which will have an influence on the future therapeutic services offered by paediatric and adolescent psychiatric units and on treatment guidelines. The ABC BRAIN LAB at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Medical University of Vienna is currently conducting the largest European study on neurostimulation for emotion regulation in children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders (www.meduniwien.ac.at/abc-brain-lab)," says Lilian Konicar.
The scientific network "Clinical neurostimulation in paediatric and adolescent psychiatry" brings together University Hospital RWTH Aachen; University of Bern, Switzerland; Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin; Ruhr University Bochum; LVR University Hospital Essen; University Hospital Frankfurt; University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf; University Hospital Heidelberg; University Hospital Cologne and Medical Faculty of the University of Cologne; University Hospital Leipzig; Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg. Medical Faculty of the University of Magdeburg; Philipps University Marburg and University Hospital Marburg (UKGM); LMU Hospital Munich; University Hospital Regensburg; University Medical Centre Rostock; University Hospital Tübingen; Medical University of Vienna (Austria); University Hospital Würzburg.
