Prof. Marom Bikson was awarded Gold Electrode Award for Neurotechnolgy Researcher of the Year . The award was announced at the 2024 Neurotech Leaders Forum, which took place in November 2024 in San Francisco. The awards were selected by the editors of Neurotech Reports.
Slowing Cognitive Decline in Major Depressive Disorder and Mild Cognitive Impairment A Randomized Clinical Trial
JAMA Psychiatry . 2024 Oct 30:e243241. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.3241.
Tarek K Rajji 1 2 3, Christopher R Bowie 1 4, Nathan Herrmann 2 5, Bruce G Pollock 1 2, Krista L Lanctôt 2 5, Sanjeev Kumar 1 2, Alastair J Flint 2 6, Linda Mah 2 7, Corinne E Fischer 2 8, Meryl A Butters 9, Marom Bikson 10, James L Kennedy 1 2, Daniel M Blumberger 1 2, Zafiris J Daskalakis 11, Damien Gallagher 2 5, Mark J Rapoport 2 5, Nicolaas P L G Paul Verhoeff 2 7, Angela C Golas 1 2, Ariel Graff-Guerrero 1 2, Erica Vieira 1 2, Aristotle N Voineskos 1 2, Heather Brooks 1, Ashley Melichercik 1, Kevin E Thorpe 12, Benoit H Mulsant 1 2 9; PACt-MD Study Group
1 Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
2 Department of Psychiatry and Toronto Dementia Research Alliance, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
3 University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.
4 Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
5 Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
6 University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
7 Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
8 Keenan Research for Biomedical Science, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
9 Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
10 Department of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of New York, New York.
11 Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla.
12 Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
JAMA Psychiatry. Published online October 30, 2024. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.3241
Key Points
Question Does cognitive remediation (CR) plus transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) slow cognitive decline in older adults with remitted major depressive disorder (rMDD) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI)?
Findings In this randomized clinical trial including 375 participants with rMDD or MCI, those randomized to receive active CR plus active tDCS experienced a slower cognitive decline over a median follow-up of 4 years than those randomized to receive sham-plus-sham treatments. The effects were more prominent in the rMDD (with or without MCI) than in the MCI without rMDD group.
Meaning The treatment of CR plus tDCS is effective in slowing cognitive decline in older adults with rMDD.
Abstract
Importance Older adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are at high risk for cognitive decline.
Objective To assess the efficacy of cognitive remediation (CR) plus transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) targeting the prefrontal cortex in slowing cognitive decline, acutely improving cognition, and reducing progression to MCI or dementia in older adults with remitted MDD (rMDD), MCI, or both.
Design, Setting, and Participants This randomized clinical trial was conducted at 5 academic hospitals in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Participants were older adults who had rMDD (with or without MCI, age ≥65 y) or MCI without rMDD (age ≥60 y). Assessments were made at baseline, month 2, and yearly from baseline for 3 to 7 years.
Interventions CR plus tDCS (hereafter, active) or sham plus sham 5 days a week for 8 weeks followed by twice-a-year 5-day boosters and daily at-home CR or sham CR.
Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was change in global composite cognitive score. Secondary outcomes included changes in 6 cognitive domains, moderating effect of the diagnosis, moderating effect of APOE ε4 status, change in composite score at month 2, and progression to MCI or dementia over time.
Results Of 486 older adults who provided consent, 375 (with rMDD, MCI, or both) received at least 1 intervention session (mean [SD] age, 72.2 [6.4] years; 232 women [62%] and 143 men [38%]). Over a median follow-up of 48.3 months (range, 2.1-85.9), CR and tDCS slowed cognitive decline in older adults with rMDD or MCI (adjusted z score difference [active − sham] at month 60, 0.21; 95% CI, 0.07 to 0.35; likelihood ratio test [LRT] P = .006). In the preplanned primary analysis, CR and tDCS did not improve cognition acutely (adjusted z score difference [active − sham] at month 2, 0.06, 95% CI, −0.006 to 0.12). Similarly, the effect of CR and tDCS on delaying progression from normal cognition to MCI or MCI to dementia was weak and not significant (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.40 to 1.08; P = .10). Preplanned analyses showed treatment effects for executive function (LRT P = .04) and verbal memory (LRT P = .02) and interactions with diagnosis (P = .01) and APOE ε4 (P < .001) demonstrating a larger effect among those with rMDD and in noncarriers of APOE ε4.
Conclusions and Relevance The study showed that CR and tDCS, both targeting the prefrontal cortex, is efficacious in slowing cognitive decline in older adults at risk of cognitive decline, particularly those with rMDD (with or without MCI) and in those at low genetic risk for Alzheimer disease.
Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02386670
New lab publication:
Khadka, Niranjan PhD; Deng, Zhi-De PhD†; Lisanby, Sarah H. MD; Bikson, Marom PhD; Camprodon, Joan A. MD, PhD. Computational Models of High-Definition Electroconvulsive Therapy for Focal or Multitargeting Treatment. The Journal of ECT ():10.1097/YCT.0000000000001069, August 26, 2024. | DOI: 10.1097/YCT.0000000000001069 PDF
A Visual and Narrative Timeline Review of Spinal Cord Stimulation Technology and US Food and Drug Administration Milestones Johnson S. Ho, MD ; Cynthia Poon, MS ; Richard North, MD; William Grubb; Scott Lempka, PhD; Marom Bikson, PhD. Volume 27, Issue 6 , August 2024, Pages 1020-1025
Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurom.2024.05.006
Quasistatic approximation in neuromodulation.
Wang B, Peterchev AV, Gaugain G, Ilmoniemi RJ, Grill WM, Bikson M, Nikolayev D.
J Neural Eng. 2024 Jul 24;21(4). doi: 10.1088/1741-2552/ad625e. PMID: 38994790
New publication:
Muccio M, Pilloni G, Walton Masters L, He P, Krupp L, Datta A, Bikson M, Charvet L and Ge Y (2024) Simultaneous and cumulative effects of tDCS on cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen in multiple sclerosis. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 18:1418647. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1418647
Abstract:
Introduction: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive neuromodulation technique with simultaneous (during stimulation) and cumulative effects (after repeated sessions) on blood flow and neuronal metabolism. These effects remain mostly unclear especially in multiple sclerosis (MS). This work aims to elucidate brain metabolic and hemodynamic underpinnings of tDCS and its potential therapeutic impact in MS patients using quantitative tDCS-MRI.
Methods: MS participants (n = 20; age = 45.4 ± 12.3 years, 7 males) underwent 3 T MRI scans before and after 20 daily sessions of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLFPC) tDCS (2.0 mA, left anodal) paired with adaptive cognitive training (aCT). During both visits, imaging measurements of cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral venous blood oxygenation (Yv) and calculated cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) were obtained at pre-tDCS, during-tDCS and post-tDCS.
Results: At baseline, significant increase from pre- to during-tDCS was observed in CMRO2 (7.6%; p = 0.002), CBF (11.0%; p < 0.0001) and Yv (1.9%; p = 0.006). At follow up, we observed an increase in pre-tDCS CMRO2 (140.59 ± 13.83 μmol/100 g/min) compared to baseline pre-tDCS levels (128.30 ± 14.00 μmol/100 g/min; p = 0.006). Sustained elevations in CMRO2 and CBF into post-tDCS were also observed (tDCS lingering effects). Cumulative tDCS effects were observed in the form of sustained elevations in CMRO2 and CBF in pre-tDCS follow up, reaching the magnitudes measured at baseline during-tDCS.
Discussion: TDCS induces an acute surge in metabolic activity persisting immediately after the stimulation is removed. Moreover, treatment composed of repeated tDCS-aCT paired sessions contributes to establishing long-lasting increases in neuronal activity.
New publication:
Frontal HD-tACS Enhances Behavioral and EEG Biomarkers of Vigilance in Continuous Attention Task
Nigel Gebodh, Vladimir Miskovic, Sarah Laszlo, Abhishek Datta, Marom Bikson
Brain Stimulation journal, 2024 DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2024.05.009
The Bikson lab presents at the International Neuromodulation Society (INS), in Vancouver, Canada. May 11-15, 2024
“Do we need to understand mechanisms to invent the next breakthrough?” Marom Bikson, May 11 in the Innovation in Neuromodulation precon. Slides PDF
“Neurovascular Modulation: Is the Direct Stimulation of Brain Vasculature a Therapeutic Mechanism”, Marom Bikson, May 12, in the Noninvasive Brain Stimulaion) precon. Slides PDF.
“A New Disposable Electotherapy Platform”, Mohamad FallaRad, May 12, in the Noninvasive Brain Stimulaion) precon.
“Sub-Threshold Neuromodulation: Everything Old is New”. Marom Bikson, PLENARY, May 15. Slides PDF
New publication:
Front Neuroergon . 2024 Apr 10:5:1236486. doi: 10.3389/fnrgo.2024.1236486.
Edson Silva-Filho 1 2, Marom Bikson 3, Nigel Gebodh 3, Niranjan Khadka 3, Amilton da Cruz Santos 1, Rodrigo Pegado 2, Maria do Socorro Brasileiro-Santos 1
1 Associated Postgraduate Program in Physical Education, Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil.
2 Postgraduate Program in Physiotherapy and Postgraduate Program in Health Science, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Santa Cruz, Brazil.
3 Department of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of The City University of New York, New York, NY, United States.
PMID: 38660589 PMCID: PMC11040684
Marom Bikson lectues at NJIT on April 19. 2024 on “Design of non-invasive electrical brain stimulation”
Slides PDF
Marom Bikson speaks at the ANT Neuromeeting April 10-11, 2024 in Philadelphia, PA.
Dr. Bikson speaks on Biomarkers for Design. Slides PDF
In Neuromodulation Technology and the Neural Interface. “A Brief History of Slow Spinal Potentials, Gate Theory of Pain, and Spinal Cord Stimulation”
Marom Bikson PhD, Mahima Sharma PhD
Antônio Felipe Lopes Cavalcante, Joanna Sacha Cunha Brito Holanda, João Octávio Sales Passos, Joyce Maria Pereira de Oliveira, Edgard Morya, Alexandre H. Okano, Marom Bikson, Rodrigo Pegado,
Anodal tDCS over the motor cortex improves pain but not physical function in chronic chikungunya arthritis: Randomized controlled trial.
Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine,, Volume 67, Issue 4, 2024, 101826, ISSN 1877-0657,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rehab.2024.101826.
The Bikson lab will be at the 2024 North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS) meeting on Jan 18-21, 2024.
Dr. Bikson is co-chairing the pre-meeting course “Engineering Principles of Deep Brain and Spinal Cord Stimulation” Jan 17, 8 AM- 5 PM. Dr. Bikson will give a lecture in the course on “Subthreshold Mechanisms of Brain and Spinal Cord Stimulation” at 10:20. Lecture slides: PDF
Mohamad Fallahrad will speak on “Highly Deployable and Wearable Non-invasive Electrical Stimulation” on Jan 20, 11:18 AM.
G. Soleimani, J. Joutsa, K. Moussawi, S.H. Siddiqi, R. Kuplicki, M. Bikson, M.P. Paulus, M.D. Fox, C.A. Hanlon, H. Ekhtiari. (2023) Converging Evidence for Frontopolar Cortex as a Target for Neuromodulation in Addiction Treatment. American Journal of Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.20221022
Oct 18, 2023, Prof. Marom Bikson gives (via zoom) the Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge psychiatry grand rounds on ““A simple introduction to how neuromodulation devices work.”
Download slides PDF
