Üsküdar Üniversitesi and NPİSTANBUL Hastanesi, which have partnered in the global Neuro-Technology Consortium in psychiatry and participated for over 10 years, attended this year's meeting of the Brain Mapping and Therapeutics Society (SBMT), held in Los Angeles from February 27 to March 2, 2025.
The 3-day “22nd Neuro-Technology Congress” was attended by Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector and Chairman of the Board, psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, leading a delegation including Üsküdar Üniversitesi NPİSTANBUL Hastanesi Psychiatry Specialist Prof. Dr. Nesrin Dilbaz, Üsküdar Üniversitesi Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. Türker Tekin Ergüzel, Prof. Dr. Sevim Işık from Üsküdar Üniversitesi Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, and NPİSTANBUL Hastanesi and Üsküdar Üniversitesi Board Member Fırat Tarhan (MSc), who all delivered presentations.
15 sessions were held at the Congress
The “22nd Neuro-Technology Congress” featured 15 sessions covering the latest technologies and pharmaceutical interventions for surgical training, as well as skull base surgery, spinal surgery, epilepsy, neuro-modulation, neurodegenerative disorders, neurotechnology, artificial intelligence, robotics, neuro-engineering, cellular and immunotherapy, neuro-oncology, autism, neuropsychiatric disorders, neuroradiology, functional neurosurgery, nanotechnology, neuro-photonics, sports medicine, neurotrauma and military medicine, ophthalmology, and optometry.
Prof. Dr. Tarhan shared current scientific studies in psychiatry, from genetics to artificial intelligence
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, in the session titled “Genomics, Pharmatech, Cell Tech, and Med Tech Applications in Psychiatry,” shared his presentation titled “In psychiatry Precision Medicine from Genetics to AI,” discussing broad-spectrum research conducted in psychiatry from genetics to artificial intelligence, and the current scientific work of NPİSTANBUL Hastanesi and Üsküdar Üniversitesi.
Emphasizing three key areas for precision medicine, Prof. Dr. Tarhan stated the importance of phenotyping and genotyping, neurotechnology, and artificial intelligence (AI) applications for personalized medicine practices.
Artificial intelligence and neurotechnology are widely used in the treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases
Highlighting the importance of personalized treatment strategies aiming for the right treatments to reach the right patient at the right time, Prof. Dr. Tarhan said, “Artificial intelligence and neurotechnology are widely used in the treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases, and results regarding the effectiveness of these treatments are steadily increasing and multiplying in the literature.”
Underlining the obstacles encountered in applying these innovations to clinical practice, Prof. Dr. Tarhan stated that personalized medicine applications have a transformative power in mental health thanks to advancements in medicine, neuroscience, genetics, and artificial intelligence.
Interdisciplinary work is needed!
Noting that personalized treatment approaches based on individual genetic and neurobiological profiles aim to increase treatment effectiveness and minimize side effects, Prof. Dr. Tarhan emphasized the need to increase the number of researchers working in this field and the necessity of interdisciplinary work for these new approaches to be fully implemented.
Prof. Dr. Tarhan shared the studies conducted at Üsküdar Üniversitesi and NPİSTANBUL Hastanesi regarding the integration of revolutionary tools in neuropsychiatry into clinical practice.
The era of digital therapeutics (DTx) is beginning in healthcare…
Highlighting the increasing effectiveness and widespread adoption of Digital Therapeutics (DTx), a new generation treatment method that uses digital technologies to manage patients' health conditions and improve treatment processes, Prof. Dr. Tarhan stated that DTx, aligning with precision medicine principles, generally provides personalized monitoring, education, treatment, and rehabilitation services through mobile applications, virtual platforms, or wearable devices, offering customized treatment plans by considering patients' genetic, biomarker, and lifestyle data.
Prof. Dr. Tarhan also explained that this allows for more accurate and rapid data on individuals' diseases, optimizing treatment processes to suit each person, and improving health outcomes. Finally, he shared that this field holds significant potential in many areas such as chronic disease management, mental health disorders, and postoperative recovery.
Pharmacogenetic applications in psychiatric diseases, specifically depression and addiction
In the same session, Üsküdar Üniversitesi NPİSTANBUL Hastanesi Psychiatry Specialist Prof. Dr. Nesrin Dilbaz gave a presentation titled “Pharmacogenetics in Psychiatric Disorders - Depression and Addiction.” Prof. Dr. Nesrin Dilbaz discussed pharmacogenetic applications in psychiatric diseases, specifically depression and addiction.
In her presentation, which addressed anhedonia, meaning the reduced ability to experience pleasure, as an important symptom of major depressive disorder (MDD) and other psychiatric illnesses, Prof. Dr. Dilbaz focused on the prevalence, pathophysiology, and neurobiology of anhedonia, emphasizing the significant impact of this symptom on patient outcomes.
Prof. Dr. Dilbaz focused particularly on the clinical effects of anhedonia in depression patients, treatment strategies, and pharmacological and psychotherapeutic approaches used to manage anhedonia, also sharing studies that discussed the relationship between anhedonia and depression severity, suicidal ideation, and duration of depression.
The importance of personalized treatment approaches…
In her presentation, advocating for personalized treatment approaches, Prof. Dr. Dilbaz emphasized the need to develop a deeper understanding to improve patients' functionality and quality of life, drawing attention to the neurobiological bases of anhedonia and disruptions in reward processing circuits.
Stating the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of anhedonia, Prof. Dr. Dilbaz recommended the combined use of pharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatment strategies, expressing that this comprehensive approach will play a significant role in enabling patients to achieve better outcomes, and highlighting the importance of evidence-based strategies for clinical applications.
Current and promising neuromodulation therapies in addiction…
Prof. Dr. Nesrin Dilbaz also presented her views on current and promising neuromodulation therapies for addiction with her presentation titled “Current and emerging neuromodulation therapies for addiction.”
Prof. Dr. Sevim Işık from Üsküdar Üniversitesi Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, in her presentation titled “Cellular Therapies in Neurodegenerative Diseases,” shared cellular therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, cellular and stem cell production planned to be carried out within NPCELLAB GMP, gene therapies, and studies conducted at application and research centers within our university.
Analyses of 50,000 facial images were performed
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. Türker Tekin Ergüzel delivered his presentation titled “Advanced Facial Expression Recognition Using CNN and CAM Analysis” under the umbrella of “Telepsychiatry & AI in Mental Health,” and Fırat Tarhan presented on “NP Istanbul Brain Hospital and Big Data Management.”
Prof. Dr. Ergüzel, in his presentation, shared the AIFER (Artificial Intelligence Based Facial Expression Recognition) study, in which they analyzed 50,000 facial images corresponding to 7 different emotional states (angry, sad, happy, scared, surprised, disgusted, neutral), stating, “In the study, emotional state analysis was performed from faces using a deep learning-based CNN algorithm.”
Two-thirds of communication is non-verbal…
Prof. Dr. Ergüzel stated that research shows two-thirds of interpersonal communication is conveyed through non-verbal elements, adding that among these, facial emotions serve as vital sources of information in human interactions, and recognizing facial emotions is crucial for effective interpersonal communication.
Distinguishing emotions from facial expressions!
Prof. Dr. Ergüzel explained that the ability to distinguish emotions from facial expressions plays a crucial role in empathizing, predicting prosocial behavior, and understanding emotional intelligence, and that they correlated this with the correct emotion at an 87% accuracy level using the intelligent detection algorithm they developed, adding, “In future studies, they will also examine the relationship between voice tone and facial emotional state during speech.”
Prof. Dr. Türker Ergüzel emphasized that studies in neuroscience are not limited to medical data alone, but visual and auditory data are also widely used in this field.
What are over 9 million digital test data used for?
Fırat Tarhan, Board Member of Üsküdar Üniversitesi and NPİSTANBUL Hastanesi, explained the corporate big data management process at NPİSTANBUL Hastanesi, the transformation of obtained medical data into scientific works, and the applications of predictive models derived from big data in the hospital. Tarhan also shared studies on how big data and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, which have been implemented at the hospital for many years, are used to improve healthcare services.
Provided information about NPData – NPModel
Tarhan explained the client data obtained at NPİSTANBUL Hastanesi over the last 10 years, data collection methods, and the size of the collected data with numerical figures. Stating that integrating large and complex datasets with artificial intelligence (AI) provides improvements in diagnosis, treatment personalization, and predictive analyses, Tarhan gave information about NPData and NPModel.
Furthermore, Tarhan stated that technologies such as AI-supported GE 3T MRI and advanced brain stimulation therapies are used in the treatment of neurological and psychiatric diseases, while neurobiofeedback and functional neurosurgery methods are applied to conditions like Parkinson's and depression. He emphasized that over nine million digital test data are stored in a central system to create personalized treatment plans and improve patient outcomes, and that this data is beneficial for physicians, clients, and researchers.
