Date: Friday, May 1, 2026
Time: 11:00 a.m.
Location: Room F-1455
CERVO Research Centre
Québec City, Québec G1J 2G3

Synthia Guimond

Tenured Professor of Psychology at the Université du Québec en Outaouais; Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University; Director of the Royal’s Cognitive Health Research Clinic and the Cognitive Remediation and Neuroimaging Laboratory; Researcher at The Royal Hospital and the CISSS de l’Outaouais.

Cognitive deficits—including difficulties in attention, memory, and social cognition—are highly prevalent among individuals living with a psychotic disorder. These impairments have a major impact on functioning and recovery. Despite their clinical importance, they remain insufficiently assessed and are rarely addressed within psychiatric services in Canada.

This lecture will present recent work aimed at better understanding these cognitive impairments and at developing interventions that are both meaningful for patients and compatible with real-world clinical practice. A central challenge in improving the management of cognitive deficits in psychosis is gaining a deeper understanding of the underlying brain and neurobiological processes. In this context, I will present new findings highlighting the involvement of the cholinergic system in the cognitive impairments observed in schizophrenia. These results open new avenues for the development of cognition-targeted treatments.

I will then describe the co-construction process that led to the development of ThinkTactic VR, a virtual reality–based cognitive remediation program. Preliminary results indicate strong engagement, good acceptability, and promising effects, particularly on social cognition and everyday functioning. Finally, I will discuss ongoing studies aimed at supporting the integration of cognitive remediation into clinical settings in the Outaouais region, with a focus on implementation barriers and facilitators, and on the importance of collaboration with people with lived experience.