Brain Stimulation

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) involves pulsed magnetic fields that pass through the scalp to stimulate the brain, with incidental stimulation to superficial nerves and muscles. From a research perspective, the tactile sensations can be a problematic confound, particularly when stimulation approaches an unpleasant or painful level. Additionally, tactile sensations contribute to difficult challenges in establishing an appropriate sham control condition. Clinically, some patients find sti...

Visual Snow Syndrome (VSS) is a neurological condition characterized by continuous visual disturbances resembling television static across the visual field. Despite its significant impact on quality of life, objective assessment methods remain limited, with diagnosis relying primarily on subjective patient reports. Current understanding of VSS pathophysiology suggests cortical hyperexcitability, but precise mechanisms remain unclear. Here we developed an integrated protocol combining transcrania...

BackgroundTheta-band oscillation is integral to fronto-parietal connectivity in the executive control network and its top-down regulation on subcortical areas. External frontoparietal synchronization using theta-frequency transcranial alternating current (tACS) is a technology to potentially engage this network. In this pre-registered, triple-blind, sham-controlled trial (NCT03907644), we tested this intervention targeting the right frontoparietal network in people with opioid use disorder (OUD)...

ObjectiveTo evaluate central and peripheral correlates of motor control using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and surface electromyography (EMG), with a focus on the added value of EMG-informed analysis during movement of the lower limb in healthy controls. MethodsTwenty participants performed dorsi-/plantarflexion of the ankle (Ankle) and gait imagery (GI) in a block design during fMRI. Accelerometry (Acc) and surface EMG from tibialis anterior (TA) activity were recorded and incl...

IntroductionSleep spindles are electroencephalographic elements characteristic of non-rapid eye movement sleep generated by thalamo-cortical interactions. Spindles have been linked to some of the cognitive benefits afforded by sleep and high spindle activity is associated with increased arousal threshold (deeper sleep). Here, we demonstrate that targeting the thalamus with Transcranial Electrical Stimulation with Temporal Interference (TES-TI) can enhance spindle activity. Methods24 participant...

Despite decades of clinical implementation of medications for opioid use disorder (OUD), overdose mortality rates remain high, underscoring a critical gap in treatments that target brain mechanisms driving addiction. Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) has demonstrated efficacy in reducing opioid use and craving, hypothetically by restructuring the salience of drug and natural rewards. Yet, to date, MOREs neurobiological mechanisms remain unclear. In this first functional magnetic r...

Substance use disorder (SUD) recovery typically requires transformative change and prioritizing long-term healthy goals. Unfortunately, successful recovery is threatened by relapse rates that often exceed 50% in the first year. We previously reported on an experiential virtual reality (VR) SUD recovery intervention using personalized future self-avatars that produced emotional engagement and positive behavioral change, ie, stronger connection with the future self and future rewards and reduced c...

The neural signature of rhythm and tempo remains difficult to study in both humans and non-human primates. Here we recorded from the motor cortex of human participants implanted with intracortical microelectrode arrays while they performed a series of rhythmic tapping tasks. We found that rhythmic tapping elicited low-dimensional rotational neural dynamics whose radii varied in a tempo-dependent manner and axes related to kinematic properties. Moreover, we observed a spectrum of kinematic and ne...

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the anterior nucleus of the thalamus (ANT) can reduce seizures in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. However, seizure freedom is rare, and there is no early response biomarker to predict long-term seizure suppression. To evaluate a short-term biomarker of therapeutic response to DBS, we studied 18-minute trials of ANT stimulation in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy undergoing intracranial electroencephalography. We compared a standard high-frequency perio...

BackgroundDeep brain stimulation has emerged as an effective investigational treatment for select cases of severe Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome. Defining the optimal stimulation sites within different targets and the specific tic improvement network across targets will be important to guide neuromodulation therapies. MethodsThis retrospective multi-center cohort study analyzed stimulation locations in patients who received bilateral deep brain stimulation for Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome acr...

Background and AimsAlcohol is the top substance used by US emerging adults under legal drinking age (underage emerging adults; U-EA; ages 18-19). U-EA are unlikely to seek or receive indicated alcohol interventions. It is imperative to find brief, effective interventions to reduce U-EA drinking. Developmental neuroscience reflects that peers hold higher neural salience during adolescence, as evidenced by differential neural response with real and/or simulated peers, even when those peers were no...

BackgroundOscillations underpin a large spectrum of brain function. Brain oscillations are altered by neuromodulation approaches including deep brain stimulation (DBS), but a mechanistic understanding of the brain oscillation - DBS interaction is missing. DBS is predominantly used in the treatment of Parkinsons disease. DBS can induce or alter pre-existing narrow frequency band gamma oscillations at half the stimulation frequency. Such half-harmonic responses have been interpreted as entrainmen...

Neuromodulation targeting thalamic nuclei is increasingly used to treat drug-resistant focal epilepsy, yet human intracranial EEG studies describing how thalamocortical interactions evolve across seizures remain limited. We aimed to define frequency-specific thalamocortical network dynamics from seizure onset to termination, compare thalamocortical and cortico-cortical network activation, and test whether thalamic EEG features can classify seizure state to inform closed-loop or adaptive thalamic...

ObjectiveHigh-frequency oscillations (HFOs) are highly specific biomarkers of epileptogenic tissue, yet their noninvasive localization remains challenging due to their brief duration, low amplitude, and poor signal-to-noise ratio. Here, we introduce TH-DeepSIF, a transformer-based deep learning framework trained on biologically realistic neural mass model simulations, to robustly perform HFO source imaging from scalp EEG. MethodsTH-DeepSIF was evaluated in simulated single- and dual-source HFO ...

Sensory organization at the spinal segment level is commonly inferred from dermatomal maps that assume a fixed correspondence between cutaneous regions and spinal segments. However, based on the complexities of spinal neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, the distribution of sensory signals within the cord may be broader and less segment-specific than dermatomal maps suggest, leaving the segment-level localization of sensory-evoked activity in humans uncertain. Spinal cord functional magnetic resona...

About half of patients who undergo epilepsy surgery for drug-resistant epilepsy have seizure recurrence, supporting the need for approaches that more accurately identify the epileptogenic zone, defined as the brain areas whose removal causes cessation of seizures. Altered network connectivity has emerged as a candidate biomarker of the epileptogenic zone, but how connectivity is altered in the epileptogenic zone remains uncertain, with prior studies reporting inconsistent results. We hypothesize...

Despite promising results, it remains unclear how to optimally target and personalize closed-loop stimulation to ameliorate deficits in memory and other cognitive functions. We hypothesized that evoked connectivity - the measurement of neural pathway activation using single pulses of electrical stimulation - can guide patient-specific selection of stimulation location and parameters for memory. We characterized brain-wide evoked connectivity profiles of stimulation in memory-related brain region...

BackgroundEpilepsy affects approximately 50 million individuals worldwide, with nearly one-third developing drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE). The centromedian nucleus of the thalamus (CM) and the brainstem are integral components of seizure-modulating networks and represent promising targets for neuromodulation. This study aimed to map structural connectivity between CM and specific brainstem nuclei using probabilistic tractography and to evaluate whether connectivity patterns correlate with seizur...

As the global burden of addiction intensifies, the neurobiological commonalities and distinctions between substance use disorders (SUDs) and behavioral addictions (BAs) remain poorly characterized. This coordinate-based meta-analysis of 59 fMRI articles (n = 2,951) mapped the neural signatures of visual cue-reactivity across the addictive disorders. Our results revealed a universal core network shared by SUDs and BAs centered in the bilateral opercular inferior frontal gyrus, suggesting a shared...

Gait impairment (GI) and freezing of gait (FOG) affect 80% of patients with advanced Parkinsons disease. Continuous deep brain stimulation (cDBS) provides limited adaptability to address the episodic nature of FOG due to fixed parameters. Neural biomarkers for adaptive DBS are limited by signal artifacts and poor FOG classification. Wearable inertial measurement units (IMUs) offer a promising alternative by directly measuring signatures of GI&FOG. We developed Kinematic adaptive DBS (KaDBS), the...