Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation (CNBS)
Optimizing and applying noninvasive brain stimulation to health care and research

Shirley Fecteau, PhD

Shirley Fecteau, PhD, has been appointed Instructor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. Shirley is the recipient of grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Fonds de la Recherche Santé Québec, and will expand her work on the neural basis of autism and the mirror neuron system.

Alvaro Pascual-Leone gave a lecture at the NIH Neuroscience Seminar Series on the role of the lateral prefrontal cortex , particularly the right lateral prefrontal cortex, in decision making. The lecture describes a novel framework that extends insights from dual-process models in social neuroscience and applies them to decision making across diverse contexts. Data from the literature, including imaging, neuropsychological, neurophysiologic, and lesion studies in humans as well as animal models, support the notion that the lateral prefrontal cortex, particularly the right lateral prefrontal cortex is a crucial node controlling the switch between reflexic and reflective modes of operation, specifically suppressing reflexic processes and allowing for reflective processes to guide decisions and behavior. This realization has implications for the understanding of the pathophysiology of a variety of condition, including depression, mania, addictive behavior, or obesity. Furthermore, the proposed framework suggests translational applications of neuromodulation and behavioral therapy with potential therapeutic benefit in such conditions. A video of the lecture can be viewed at: http://videocast.nih.gov/PastEvents.asp?c=16

The work of Amir Amedi, William Stern, and colleagues at the Center is highlighted in a recent New Scientist article, which reports on a recent publication in Nature Neuroscience (Nature Neuroscience, DOI: 10.1038/nn1912). Using fMRI and a device called The vOICe, which converts visual details into sound, the study demonstrates that the brain area LOtv is driven by the presence of shape, but it doesn't care whether the input is visual, tactile or auditory. This is consistent with the notion of a metamodal brain organization put forward by Pascual-Leone and Hamilton some years ago.

Joan Camprodon, MD, MPH

Joan Camprodon, M.D., MPH, has been appointed Instructor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. In his new faculty role he will expand his work at the Center, leading the efforts of real-time combination of TMS with fMRI for the study of functional connectivity in the adult human brain.

Prof. Pascual-Leone has been awarded one of six Chairs in Biomedicine by the BBVA Foundation in Spain to apply principles of neuromodulation and brain plasticity to the neurorehabilitation of traumatic brain injury. Traumatic Brain Injury is a major public health problem across human life span. Severe disability from TBI has an incidence rate estimated at 2%, and moderate disability at 4% per 100,000 inhabitants per year. There is therefore an urgent and ongoing need for better strategies to minimize the consequences of TBI and promote optimal functional recovery after brain injury. This BBVA Foundation Chair will provide an opportunity to establish in Spain Prof. Pascual-Leone¹s techniques and innovative approaches to modulate brain plasticity towards optimization of recovery of function after brain injury. The work will be conducted at The Institute Guttmann (www.guttmann.com), Spain's leading hospital in the medical treatment, surgery and full rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injury, acquired brain damage or any other serious neurological disability.

The content goes hereFor several years, thanks to the support of the Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation and the National Alliance for Autism Research, work has been ongoing at the Center on the neural dysfunction underlying autism spectrum disorders and the therapeutic potential of neuromodulation in these disabling conditions. The scope of the work will be further expanded thanks to the success of Shirley Fecteau, PhD who has obtained funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to continue her work, and Lindsay Oberman, PhD who has been awarded an NRSA postdoctoral fellowship from National Institutes of Mental Health and will join the Center this summer. The work will continue to be conducted in close collaboration with the Autism Consortium.

Natasha Mitchell’s 'All in the Mind' science magazine (http://abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind) in ABC Radio National (Science Unit) from Australia will broadcast this weekend a program on brain plasticity in the blind highlighting the work of Pawan Singha (MIT) and Amir Amedi from the Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation. The program will be broadcast on ABC Radio National and ABC Radio Australia (Asia Pacific and Canada etc) on March 24. Download the podcast, listen to streaming audio or read the transcript available here or here.

Intersensory substitution with visuo-auditory transformation (The vOICe) and the associated neuroscience research being conducted at the Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation thanks to the support from the National Eye Institute were featured in April 2005 on Canadian CBC Radio One in the popular science program "Quirks & Quarks", hosted by Bob McDonald: "The Science of Seeing with Sound". The 22-minute documentary by Alison Motluk is titled  "See, If You Can Hear This", with contributions from Pat Fletcher and Alvaro Pascual-Leone. MP3 and Ogg audio files available online (MP3 streaming audio).

Felipe Fregni, MD, PhD, Director of the Clinical Trials Network at the Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation has been featured on various TV programs and scientific magazines for his work on the use of noninvasive brain stimulation for the treatment of stroke. For example, see:

Medical Breakthroughs by Ivanhoe
Magnetic Stimulation for Stroke

National Review of Medicine
Magnetic stimulation revives brain function in stroke victims

Harvard University Gazette
Magnetic stimulation helps stroke victims

The transcript from the recent meeting of the FDA panel that reviewed Neuronetics’ application for approval of their TMS device for treatment of depression is now available for those interested in getting the details. It is a comprehensive and detailed report with over 500 pages and can be found at  http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/07/transcripts/2007-4273t1.rtf.