Spatially and temporally targeted neuromodulation in health and disease
01/30/2020
Antal Berényi1
1 University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
Oscillatory brain activities support many physiological functions from motor control to cognition. Disruptions of the normal oscillatory brain activities are commonly observed in neurological and psychiatric disorders including epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, anxiety/trauma-related disorders, major depressive disorders, and drug addiction. Therefore, these disorders can be considered as common oscillation defects despite having distinct behavioral manifestations and genetic causes. Recent technical advances of neuronal activity recording and analysis allowed us to study the pathological oscillations of each disorder as a possible biomarker of symptoms. Furthermore, recent advances in brain stimulation technologies enable time- and space-targeted interventions of the pathological oscillations of both neurological disorders and psychiatric disorders as possible targets for regulating their symptoms. I will briefly introduce our recent results in intervening epileptic seizures and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) using spatially and temporally targeted stimulation. Our translational work aiming the use of high-intensity closed-loop transcranial electrical stimulation on human patients will be also highlighted in my talk. The overarching goal of these efforts is to establish an acute intervention approach promptly disrupting pathologic network oscillations, and consequently preventing the development the symptoms of these disorders.