Body and Brain: co-occurrence of cardiometabolic and mental diseases

1. Recognize that insulinopathies (e.g. type 2 diabetes, obesity) frequently co-occur with brain disorders (mental & neurological)
2. Understand how lifestyle (diet), glycemic control and insulin signalling influence brain functioning and brain health
3. Argue the importance of multidisciplinary treatment/ integrated care, where insulinopathies/somatic diseases are treated in the context of brain disorders
4. Adopt lifestyle interventions in clinical practice to improve mental & physical health
5. Apply clinical guideline recommendations in clinical practice to diagnose and treat individuals with insulin/somatic multimorbidities

• Health care professionals that want to know more about the co occurrence between insulinopathies
  (e.g. type 2 diabetes, obesity) and brain health (mental & neurological), and how to provide adequate, integrated care
• Psychiatrists, psychologists, neurologists, neuroscientists
• Endocrinologists, dieticians, general practitioners
• Other interested individuals

The course offers on-demand, online learning materials, including video lectures, quizzes, and reading material. 

Module 1 begins with a mandatory lecture delivered by Prof. Dr. Barbara Franke, the coordinator of the PRIME project. In this brief lecture, she provides an overview of the course and highlights the importance of studying and treating somatic and brain disorders together. This lecture is required for course participants to commence the PRIME online learning course.

Following this, there are 10 brief introductory lectures available for course participants to choose from, in order to refresh their background knowledge. Each lecture lasts between 15 and 20 minutes. To complete the course, participants must select and engage with at least 4 out of the 10 provided lectures. This involves watching the video, reading the accompanying scientific material, and answering five questions related to each topic, based on both the lecture and the reading material.

The following modules include 30 minute lectures for the participants to engage with. This involves watching each lecture video, reading the accompanying scientific material, and answering five multiple-choice questions for each topic. 

Module 1: Setting the scene (To earn credits, participants must select and engage with lecture 1 and at least 4 out of the 10 other lectures)

Lecture 1.1 — Why should we study and treat somatic and brain disorders together? A course overview (Barbara Franke)

Lecture 1.2  — Type 1 versus type 2 diabetes in clinical practice (Bastiaan de Galan)

Lecture 1.3 — Updates on metabolic syndrome (Tatjana Milenkovic)

Lecture 1.4 — Obesity (Mònica Bulló)

Lecture 1.5 — The role of glucose control in diabetes management (Nebojša M. Lalić)

Lecture 1.6 — Autism and ADHD – overlap and differences between two neurodevelopmental disorders (Jan Buitelaar)

Lecture 1.7 — Major Depressive Disorder – the facts (János Réthelyi)

Lecture 1.8 — Schizophrenia – the facts (János Réthelyi)

Lecture 1.9 — Eating disorders and obesity (Fernando Fernandez-Aranda)

Lecture 1.10 — Compulsivity disorders (Jan Buitelaar)

Lecture 1.11 — Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and cognitive decline: an introduction of concepts (Willemijn Jansen)

Module 2: What’s the evidence for the overlap between insulin-related diseases and brain health?

Lecture 2.1 — Psychiatric epidemiology using (big) real-world data: an overview of key principles (Henrik Larsson)

Lecture 2.2 — Epidemiology of the overlap between Type 2 diabetes and brain disorders (Søren Dalsgaard)

Lecture 2.3 — Shared familial risk for Type 2 diabetes and psychiatric disorders  (Theresa Wimberley Böttger)

Lecture 2.4 — The role of diabetes in Alzheimer’s disease (Veerle van Gils)

Module 3: Mechanisms of comorbidity between insulin and the brain

Lecture 3.1 — The genetics of insulinopathies (Janita Bralten)

Lecture 3.2 — Mediterranean diet, glucose dysregulation, cognition, and mental health (Jordi Salas-Salvadó)

Lecture 3.3 — Insulin action in the brain (Heather Ferris)

Lecture 3.4 — The role of inflammation for comorbidity between insulin resistance and brain disorders (Carmen Schiweck)

Module 4: Intervention & prevention of insulin-brain comorbidities

Lecture 4.1 — Clinical guidelines: What is relevant for clinicians? (Alexander Häge)

Lecture 4.2 — The link of insulin resistance with mood and psychoses: insights from the clinic (Giuseppe Fanelli)

Lecture 4.3 — Pharmacological interventions for Alzheimer’s disease & dementia (Pieter Jelle Visser)

Lecture 4.4 — The role of lifestyle for mental health in the context of insulin resistance (Silke Matura)

This course is freely accessible to all individuals with a myECNP account. If you do not yet have a myECNP account, please visit the ECNP website at ecnp.eu and navigate to the ‘myECNP’ tab.

Registration is open now. 

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at knowledge-hub@ecnp.eu.