A lot is going on in NYC on the week of May 3-10 including:

The International Society of ECT and Neuromodulation (May 3-5)

The annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (May 3-7)

Clinical TMS Society Annual Meeting (May 3-5)

The NYC tDCS workshop at CCNY (May 6-7)

Society of Biologic Psychiatry Meeting (May 8-10). 

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Some highlights from the week:

Full program details of the Neuromodec tDCS workshop are here and include presentations by leaders in neuromodulation May 6-7.

The Society of Biologic Psychiatry Meeting includes a special session of tDCS for Depression with this amazing program: “Technical and Mechanistic Foundations of tDCS: Emerging applications in Major Depressive Disorder“. Location: Hilton New York Midtown – Gremercy A – 2nd Floor. Time: May 8 12:30-2:30pm.

•12:40-1:00pm – Marom Bikson, CUNY, USA – Byophysical Foundations of tDCS: Evidence from Computer Models and Animal Studies

•1:00-1:20pm – Michael A. Nitsche, Göttingen University, Germany – Translational use of tDCS in Major Depressive Disorder: Focus on Neuroplasticity

•1:20-1:40pm – Collen Loo, University of New South Wales, Australia – TDCS as a Monotherapy for Depression: Results from a Randomized Clinical Trial and Follow-up study

•1:40-2:00 pm – André R. Brunoni, University of São Paulo, Brazil – TDCS as an add-on Therapy: The Augmentative Role of tDCS for the treatment of Depression

The value and cost of complexity in predictive modelling: role of tissue anisotropic conductivity and fibre tracts in neuromodulation

download the PDF: Bikson_JNE_ValueCost

SS Shahid, M Bikson, H Salman, P Wen, T Ahfock – Journal of Neural Engineering, 2014

Objectives. Computational methods are increasingly used to optimize transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) dose strategies and yet complexities of existing approaches limit their clinical access. Since predictive modelling indicates the relevance of subject/ …

It’s all in your head: reinforcing the placebo response with tDCS

download the PDF   

HM Schambra, M Bikson, TD Wager, MF DosSantos… – Brain Stimulation, 2014; Volume 7, Issue 4, Pages 623–624,

The mechanisms of action of tDCS for behavioral modification are not yet fully understood. However, 3 one common observation is that its behavioral effects are most pronounced and long-lasting when tDCS 4 is paired with endogenous, training-induced brain activity (1). In …

Full List of Abstracts from our Lab from NYC Neuromodulation 2013 in Brain Stimulation:

• Berkan Guleyupoglu, Alexander David, Marom Bikson. Electrosleep revisited: A new look into an old technique. NYC Neuromodulation 2013 Abstract, Published in Brain Stimulation Vol. 7, Issue 2, Page e10

• Belen Lafon, Asif Rahman, Marom Bikson, Lucas C. Parra . Direct current stimulation modulates the synaptic input required for firing. NYC Neuromodulation 2013 Abstract, Published in Brain Stimulation Vol. 7, Issue 2, Page e11

• Jessica Berard, Isis E. Martínez-Hernández, Abhishek Datta, Marom Bikson, et al. Effects of montage configuration on cortical excitability NYC Neuromodulation 2013 Abstract, Published in Brain Stimulation Vol. 7, Issue 2, Page e15

• Ole Seibt, Albert Mokrejs, Marom Bikson. HD-Electrode assembly design for decreased transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) current density on the skin: A FEM modeling study. NYC Neuromodulation 2013 Abstract, Published in Brain Stimulation Vol. 7, Issue 2, Page e10

• Dennis Q. Truong, Berkan Guleyupoglu, Abhishek Datta, Preet Minhas, Marom Bikson et al. Inter-Individual Variation during Transcranial Direct Current Simulation and Normaliziation of Dose Using MRI-Derived Computational Models NYC Neuromodulation 2013 Abstract, Published in Brain Stimulation Vol. 7, Issue 2, Page e10

• Mahtab Alam, Marom Bikson, Dennis Truong. Spatial and polarity precision of High-Definition transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (HD-tDCS) NYC Neuromodulation 2013 Abstract, Published in Brain Stimulation Vol. 7, Issue 2, Page e11

• Dennis Truong, Preet Minhas, Albert Mokrejs, Marom Bikson. Customization of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for susceptible populations including at the extremes of age, obesity, and stroke NYC Neuromodulation 2013 Abstract, Published in Brain Stimulation Vol. 7, Issue 2, Page e5-e6

• Jessica D. Richardson, Paul Fillmore, Abhishek Datta, Dennis Truong, Marom Bikson et al. Sham protocols for transcranial direct current stimulation using high-definition electrodes NYC Neuromodulation 2013 Abstract, Published in Brain Stimulation Vol. 7, Issue 2, Page e8

Neuroimage. 2014; 92: 285-297

Woods AJ, Hamilton RH, Kranjec A, Minhaus P, Bikson M4, Yu J, Chatterjee A

PDF: Woods_Bikson_2014_Neuroimage_SpaceTimetDCS

Abstract: The ability to perceive causality is a central human ability constructed from elemental spatial and temporal information present in the environment. Although the nature of causality has captivated philosophers and scientists since antiquity, the neural correlates of causality remain poorly understood. In the present study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to generate hypotheses for candidate brain regions related to component processes important for perceptual causality in the human brain: elemental space perception, elemental time perception, and decision-making (Experiment 1; n=16). We then used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to test neural hypotheses generated from the fMRI experiment (Experiment 2; n=16). In both experiments, participants judged causality in billiard-ball style launching events; a blue ball approaches and contacts a red ball. Spatial and temporal contributions to causal perception were assessed by parametrically varying the spatial linearity and the temporal delays of the movement of the balls. Experiment 1 demonstrated unique patterns of activation correlated with spatial, temporal, and decision-making components of causality perception. Using tDCS, we then tested hypotheses for the specific roles of the parietal and frontal cortices found in the fMRI experiment. Parietal stimulation only decreased participants’ perception of causality based on spatial violations, while frontal stimulation made participants less likely to perceive causality based on violations of space and time. Converging results from fMRI and tDCS indicate that parietal cortices contribute to causal perception because of their specific role in processing spatial relations, while the frontal cortices contribute more generally, consistent with their role in decision-making.

Dr. Marom Bikson interviewed for IEEE Spectrum article.

Home experimenters are building rigs to send currents through their heads

By Eliza Strickland

Posted 14 Mar 2014

link

13th Annual International Conference on Dose Response

Apr 22 2014 to Apr 23 2014  —  Location: UMass Amherst, Amherst, MA

online info here full conference brochure here

The 2014 Dose-Response, Preconditioning: Adaptive Responses in Biology and Medicine will explore the rapidly emerging area of Preconditioning, its biomedical implications, its dose response features and its underlying mechanisms.  Speakers at the conference will address recent discoveries concerning how preconditioning may be used to protect against environmental stressor agents, slow down and prevent a wide range of neurological and cardiovascular diseases, and how such knowledge can be translated into medical practice, taking into consideration the challenges of human inter-individual variation.  The convergence of scientists from multiple disciplines on this topic is designed to provide a greater interactive focus on the topic of low dose responses and hopefully prevent further professional/academic isolation with respect to language, concept and interpretation of low dose effects.  The conference will also provide the most current advances in the nature of the dose response with respect to chemical and radiation induced stresses as well as a host of effects of pharmaceutical agents that have profound biomedical and risk assessment implications.

Dr. Marom Bikson joins an international panel of tDCS experts for the NEUROMODEC NYC tDCS Workshop.

And intensive expert-level two-day international meeting dedicated on the design and implementation of tDCS clinical trials. Update on 2014 state-of-the-art methodology with presentations and discussions on the development of professional standards for safety, validity and reproducibility of functional outcomes in tDCS in clinical practice.

More info here  EVENT WILL SELL OUT

Is Brain Stimulation a Medicine of the Future?

March 3, 2014

Article Link

30th International Congress of Clinical Neurophysiology (ICCN) of the IFCN

Berlin, Germany – May 19 to 23, 2014   Dr. Bikson will present the working draft of a consensus paper by leader in animal researched on tDCS mechanisms.

Dr. Bikson will also address the Gottingen neuromodulation course on May 18, 2014.

Special lecture on “Enhancing Brain Function with tDCS” featuring two prominent researchers in the field: Andy McKinley, Ph.D. of the Air Force Research Laboratory & Michael Weisend from Wright State Research Institute.

Dr. McKinley’s work was recently featured in the Boston Globe: Pentagon considers using electricity to stimulate troops’ brains and Dr. Weisand recently presented at TEDx: Rewiring your brain

The lecture will be in Steinman Hall room 560 tomorrow, Tuesday March 4 at 2:30 PM.

12:00 pm Brownbag, Sub 1, room 3B: “Basic principles and practices of tDCS”

Clin Neurophysiol. 2013 Oct 28. pii: S1388-2457(13)01106-1. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2013.10.003.

Polarizing cerebellar neurons with transcranial Direct Current Stimulation.

Rahman A, Toshev PK, Bikson M.

Full PDF:  ClinicalNeurophys2014_CerebellartDCS

Journal Link

Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Colloquium
February 28, 2014

Gyorgy Buzsaki
New York University

“Oscillations organize cell assemblies”

A.L. Manuel, A.W. David, M. Bikson, A. Schnider.

Neuroscience 265 (2014) 21-27

Abstract: Orbitofrontal reality filtering denotes a memory control mechanism necessary to keep thought and behavior in phase with reality. Its failure induces reality confusion as evident in confabulation and disorientation. In the present study, we explored the influence of orbitofrontal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on reality filtering. Twenty healthy human subjects made a reality filtering task, while receiving cathodal, anodal, or sham stimulation over the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in three sessions separated by at least 1 week. Computational models predicted that this montage can produce polarity-specific current flow across the posterior medial OFC. In agreement with our hypothesis, we found that cathodal tDCS over the frontal pole specifically impaired reality filtering in comparison to anodal and sham stimulation. This study shows that reality filtering, an orbitofrontal function, can be modulated with tDCS.

Journal Link             Full PDF: tDCS_Manuel_Bikson_2004_frontalrealityfiltering        PubMed Link

Effective Jan 1, 2014, Dr. Marom Bikson will serve as Deputy Editor for Technology and Modeling for Brain Stimulation Journal.

Brain Stimulation aims to be the premier journal for publication of original research in the field of neuromodulation. The new position for Technology and Modeling will focus on highlighting innovations in brain stimulation technology, clinical trial design, regulations and standards, and translational modeling.

Thanks for your interest in participating in a paid study!
Please email neuro@ccny.cuny.edu with your name and age and we will get back to you about current opportunities!

Position NE7.1:  A full-time post-doctoral position in brain slice neurophysiology is available in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at The City College of New York of The City University of New York. The position involves studies focused on the cellular mechanisms of non-invasive neuromodulation, such as transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS).  Despite being the fastest growing and most promising new therapy for neuropsychiatric disorders, rehabilitation, and neuro-enhancement (healthy individuals), fundamental questions remain about the mechanisms of tDCS.  The applicant will have the opportunity to work with leaders in characterizing the cellular effects of stimulation using brain slice studies and modeling, and moreover to interact with a broad range of engineers and clinicians with the goals of translating insights to new technologies and applications.  Further information on the Neural Engineering Group at CCNY can be found here http://neuralengr.org.

We are seeking candidates that are highly creative, motivated, and independent with a Ph.D.  in neuroscience, biomedical engineering, or a related field.  Candidates must have a strong research background in brain slice electrophysiology, with a record of relevant publications. Experience with patch-clamp and/or calcium imaging in brain slice is required.

Candidates will be encouraged and expected to participate in independent laboratory research, and will be expected to write scholarly manuscripts. Candidates must be able to lead and work well in a team.  Candidates must have excellent spoken and written English skills.  Opportunities for career development (e.g. grant writing, mentoring, teaching) are strongly supported.

Applicants should submit a brief statement of research activities and interests (one paragraph), a current CV, and names and contact information of references.  With a two-year contract, salary will be commensurate with experience and accomplishments as part of an overall research effort supported by the DoD, NIH, and NSF. To arrange a meeting with the PI and to send materials required for consideration for this appointment please contact Dr. Marom Bikson at: bikson@ccny.cuny.edu

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Position NE7.2: A full time Biomedical Electronics Design Engineer at the staff engineer or post-doctoral level

Job Description: Excellent opportunity in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at The City College of New York for an Electronics Design Engineer experienced in digital and analog circuits.  The Electronics Design Engineer will primarily design new medical instrumentation focused on non-invasive optical sensing.  This opportunity will allow you to contribute in all aspects of medical device design and development aimed at developing new therapies including new medical devices used in cancer treatment surgery.  The selected candidate will have the opportunity to interact with world-class physicians and surgeons and benefit from direct mentorship by clinicians.  This is an opportunity where you will need to apply your engineering skills in a dynamic and challenging environment with the goal of improving cancer treatment with next generation medical technologies.

Job Duties:

• Develop technical design inputs in concert with clinical users and development team

• Lead all research and development efforts in electronic improvements and next generation devices

• Guide and oversee mechanical design efforts of all projects

• Develop engineering test protocols for device verification

• Maintain excellent documentation of all progress on projects and test reports

• Lead engineering development team to meet timelines and ensure quality deliverables

Skills/Qualifications:

BS or equivalent in Electrical Engineering or Biomedical Engineering (with electrical engineering specialization).

PhD with emphasis on instrumentation and/or 4 year work experience in electronics design is required.

Experience with biomedical device design and optics/medical optics, are ideal but not required.

Extensive experience with MCU programming, electric circuit design, and electronics a must.  Applicants must be highly motivated, self starters with excellent written and oral communication skills.  Applicants should exhibit high level leadership qualities and have the capacity to lead multi-disciplinary teams.  Experience with grant writing is a plus.

This is a unique opportunity to work with a highly translational project where your engineering skills will have an immediate impact.  This position is through an academic institution but entrepreneurship opportunities are available for capable and motivated candidates.  Opportunities for publication and academic career development are also available for interested candidates.  Send resumes to Marom Bikson bikson@ccny.cuny.edu

(Left to right): Marom Bikson, Ole Seibt, Dennis Truong, Belen Lafon, Robin Azzam, Peter Toshev

Fall 2013 Seminar Series Department of Biomedical Engineering

Wednesday, December 18 @ 3 PM in Steinman Hall ST-402

Human Thalamocortical Dynamics: From Mechanisms to Meaning Via Computational Neural Modeling

Stephanie R. Jones, Ph.D.

Assistant Research Professor Department of Neuroscience Brown University

Low frequency neocortical rhythms are among the most prominent activity measured in human brain imaging signals such as electro- and magneto- encephalography (EEG/MEG). Elucidating the role that these dynamics play in perception, cognition and action is a key challenge of modern neuroscience. We have recently combined human brain imaging and computational neural modeling to explore the functional relevance and mechanistic underpinnings of rhythms in primary somatosensory cortex, containing Alpha (7-14Hz) and Beta (15-29Hz) components. In this talk, I will review our findings showing this rhythm impacts tactile detection, changes with healthy aging and practice, and is modulated with attention. Constrained by the human imaging data, our biophysically principled computational modeling work has led to a novel prediction on the origin of this rhythm predicting that it emerges from the combination of two stochastic ~10 Hz thalamic drives to the granular/infragranular and supragranular cortical layers. Relative Alpha/Beta expression depends on the strength and delay between the thalamic drives. This model is able to accurately reproduce numerous key features of the human rhythm and proposes a specific mechanistic link between the Beta component of the rhythm and sensory perception. Further, initial electrophysiological recordings in rodents support out hypotheses and suggest a role for pallidal thalamus in coordinating Beta rhythmicity, with relevance to understanding disrupted Beta in Parkinson’s Disease.

Wednesday, December 18 @ 3 PM in Steinman ST-402

Title: Empowering Implantable Devices

Prof. N. Sertac Artan, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of New York University

Date: Monday, December 16 Location: T-623, Conference Room (Electrical Engineering), Steinman Hall  – Time: 1:00 PM

From pacemakers to responsive neurostimulators, implantable devices offer vital treatment options. As new therapies are developed, the need for more capable implantable devices, running sophisticated algorithms in real-time, and generating large amounts of data traffic, grows. The severe power and space constraints impose significant challenges to the development of such devices, which should avoid tissue heating, frequent surgery for battery replacement, or high bandwidth requirements. These constraints lead to trade-offs in monitoring and treatment options. As complex engineering systems, the medical implants often require the interaction between various subsystems. An algorithm for extracting necessary information dictates the minimum requirements for the sensors and signal processing path to ensure the quality and integrity of the acquired physiological signals, as well as the bandwidth requirements of an optional telemetry subsystem. In return, the capabilities of the sensors and the signal processing path along with the tight power and space requirements dictate the features and limit the accuracy of these algorithms. Independent optimization of these subsystems neglecting their intricate interactions usually prevents these systems to fulfill their full potential. My research goal is to design next generation safe and highly-capable implantable devices focusing on cross subsystem optimization spanning from circuits and algorithms to networking based on characteristics of the specific target application. Currently, I am working on developing implantable devices for epilepsy in particular and for neurological diseases in general. In this talk, I will give some examples of our recent work on low-power VLSI circuits and epileptic seizure monitoring algorithms for embedded systems targeting implantable applications.