Stimulating Brains

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Kullervo Hynynen, a key figure in biomedical ultrasound and image-guided therapeutics. Starting from his academic roots at the University of Aberdeen to his current roles at the Sunnybrook Research Institute and the University of Toronto, Dr. Hynynen has played an instrumental role in advancing medical imaging.

He has been at the forefront of investigating the use of focused ultrasound for various medical procedures such as non-invasive surgery, vascular surgery, targeted drug delivery, and gene therapy. Without his groundbreaking contributions, the medical field might not possess the capability to execute MR-guided focused ultrasound surgeries today.

For those curious about the specifics of his contributions, the Focused Ultrasound Society has a comprehensive website detailing milestones in the therapy's development, where Dr. Hynynen's name frequently appears.

Dr. Hynynen leads an extensive group at Sunnybrook, comprising approximately 50 to 100 members. These professionals span across the vast spectrum of focused ultrasound applications in both animals and humans.

In this intriguing dialogue with Dr. Christelle Baunez, a neurobiologist at Aix-Marseille University, we discuss a mysterious and small structure, the subthalamic nucleus. Christelle is known as the STN woman in France, due to her dedication to study this structure over the years. Christelle is a pioneer in the side effects related to STN stimulation in Parkinson Disease patients. Now, she is working towards understanding how STN stimulation can help people with addiction. We cover, with an historical perspective how STN became an interesting brain stimulation target, their advantages and disadvantages of its stimulation, side effects related, its connectivity and current and future applications. In addition, we discuss some of her recent fully unpublish experiments, like STN stimulation in cocaine addicted macaques and beyond. We also cover Christelle’s advocacy for animal research and its important role to push the boundaries of neuroscience. Finally, Christelle shares her passion for photography and how STN should be included in the reward circuit. This conversation was an incredible learning experience for me, and I believe it will be for you too.  Thank you so much for tuning in – for this round episode number 41 of stimulating brains!

In this engaging conversation with Casey Halpern, a functional neurosurgeon at Penn Medicine. Casey is a pioneer in both deep brain stimulation and focused ultrasound and with his lab has recently had some fantastic breakthroughs, especially, but not exclusively in the field of loss-of-control eating in severe obesity. We cover a lot of ground from optogenetics at Stanford, basic science research about the nucleus accumbens and translation of findings into patients, serendipitous discoveries in humans, to stereo-EEG procedures in patients with epilepsy. We discuss what made his recent Nature paper about an appetite mediating circuit in the human hippocampus so special, how he took his findings from 2013 in rodent work – across several stages – into a human clinical trial for eating disorders. We also cover Casey’s ongoing trial in DBS for OCD, where he adopts an approach to probe the brain with multiple electrodes to then identify optimal target areas for each individual patient – in line with other current advances of psychiatric neurosurgery. We also talk about MR guided focused ultrasound and the potential future of this treatment option in a tight relationship with DBS. As always, I learned a lot in this conversation and I hope you find it as enjoyable as I did. Thank you so much for tuning in – for this round episode number 40 of stimulating brains!

In this engaging conversation with Dr. Nico Dosenbach, a clinician-scientist at Washington University, we dive into his personal journey from the Black Forest in Germany to his adventures in the US. Nico generously shared insights into his educational and career path, recounting his experiences studying biochemistry in New York City, making the decision to pursue an MD/PhD, and eventually specializing in pediatric neurology.

The conversation delved into his early days as a researcher at Washington University in St. Louis, during the pioneering early days of resting-state fMRI.

Nico also discussed the significance of data collected as part of the Midnight Scan Club. This work collected hours worth of data from ten individuals using comparably long and repeated fMRI scans and led to most of the seminal work of the Dosenbach lab. As Nico lays out, the reason is intriguing: If one sees an unexpected finding on high quality data, one would not as easily attribute it to noise. More likely, one would follow up and try to understand the finding better – as was done in numerous of Nico's papers.

Nico tells us how practical it is to wear a pink cast around ones dominant arm for a while – and why one would want to do such a thing as an fMRI researcher. Finally, we talk to Nico about two of his recent groundbreaking papers which were both published in Nature and how it came about that he challenged a long-standing "truth" in neuroscience: The model of the motor homunculus established by Wilder Penfield.

In this conversation with Espen Dietrichs, we talk about the work of Carl Wilhelm Sem-Jacobsen, who almost certainly applied deep brain stimulation to the subthalamic nucleus chronically over weeks in 1958. Notably, this was ~40 years before the application of subthalamic DBS in Grenoble by the team of Alim Louis Benabid & Pierre Pollak (episode 4) following the pioneering animal work by Hagai Bergman (episode 17) and Abdelhamid Benazzouz who had demonstrated lesioning and DBS to the subthalamic nucleus had dramatic effects on cardinal motor symptoms in Parkinson's. Sem-Jacobsen implanted a series of electrodes into the basal ganglia of the brain of Parkinson's Disease patients starting in 1958, and in some electrodes labeled "near nucl. ruber" demonstrated dramatic effects on both tremor and bradykinesia. Espen Dietrichs spent many years researching this work and according to him, Sem-Jacobsen was "an inventor, not so much a scientist", so little was published. He showed a compelling film at the neurological convention in Oslo 1962, however – which had been lost for a long time. After years of investigation, Prof. Dietrichs could recover the film and a total of 9 boxes of material in a barn owned by the Sem-Jacobsen family in rural Norway. He takes us on this journey of investigation and scientific history, and also shares how Sem-Jacobsen built an ECG device that recorded the activity of Neill Armstrong's heart while taking the first steps on the moon, as well as an EEG device that measured brain activity of jet pilots and divers. We touch on conspiracy theories of "mind control", personal links to the director of the CIA and a hearing committee, that ultimately cleared the name of Carl Sem-Jacobsen long after his death.

In this compelling episode we delve into the inspiring story of Jon Nelson, a remarkable individual who has braved the depths of mental illness and emerged as a beacon of resilience and hope. In a heartfelt conversation with Jon, he shares his lived experience with DBS device as a transformative treatment for mental illness.

Against the backdrop of prevailing stigma surrounding mental health, Jon's journey unfolds as he not only navigates the challenges of his condition but also becomes an ardent advocate for change. Through Jon's experiences and storytelling, we hope to provide a perspective on the power of DBS in addressing mental health issues and breaking down societal barriers.

Tune in as we explore Jon's commitment to dispelling stigma, his unwavering determination to share his insights, and his profound impact on raising awareness about the potential of DBS in treating mental health disorders. This episode challenges preconceptions, celebrates triumphs, and sheds light on the extraordinary synergy between personal experiences and scientific advancements.

In this episode, we delve into the groundbreaking work of the Neuromodulation Lab at the NeuroSpin center, led by Dr. Béchir Jarraya. The lab’s mission is to evaluate brain modulation using pharmacological agents and electrical neurostimulation. Combining functional MRI with new neuromodulation techniques, they train awake macaques, with a unique mock-MRI process, to study consciousness-related domains. Their activities encompass MRI, electrophysiology, and 3-photon imaging to unlock the mysteries of consciousness.

In this episode, we interviewed Dr. Mark Richardson, an expert in functional neurosurgery and the Director of the Brain Modulation Lab at MGH Neurosurgery. He shared insights into his career and the lab's focus on improving surgical treatments for epilepsy, movement disorders, and psychiatric diseases through a systems neuroscience approach. We discussed closed-loop deep brain stimulation in epilepsy, incision-less approaches like FUS and LITT, and the role of different nuclei in generalized epilepsy. We also explored speech and language research, therapeutic applications of DBS, olfaction studies, and patient engagement in research trials. Join us to discover the frontiers of neurosurgery and the groundbreaking work of the Brain Modulation Lab.

We had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Charles Jennings, an accomplished scientist and leader in the field of neuroscience. As the Executive Director of the Program for Interdisciplinary Neuroscience and the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Disease, Dr. Jennings oversees a vast network of researchers and clinicians who are dedicated to advancing our understanding of the brain and developing new treatments for neurological disorders.

Dr. Jennings’ work is especially noteworthy for its collaborative approach. As a “connectome” here in Boston, he bridges the gap between different research teams, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and cooperation. He oversees the “Neurotechnology Studios” which is a prime example of this collaborative approach, providing state-of-the-art equipment and technical support to researchers across a wide range of fields.

During this episode, Dr. Jennings shared fascinating insights into his career path and the challenges he has faced along the way. He spoke about the importance of mentorship and the role that his own mentors played in shaping his scientific outlook. He also discussed his experiences as the founding editor-in-chief of Nature Neuroscience and offered his thoughts on what makes a successful journal.

In addition, we discussed some of the trends and issues that are currently shaping the field of scientific publishing, including the rise of sub-journals, the impact of open access, and the challenges posed by excessive article processing charges. Dr. Jennings provided a thoughtful and nuanced perspective on these topics, drawing on his extensive experience in the field to offer valuable insights and suggestions for the future.

Join us for an illuminating conversation with Drs. Joachim Krauss, Marwan Hariz, and Christian Moll, as we delve into the history of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, and the impact of serendipity in driving discovery.

In the first part of the episode, we explore the fascinating history of Stereotactic Functional Neurosurgery, discussing the advances in technology and surgical techniques that have led to the current state of the field. We also touch on the challenges and ethical considerations involved in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, as outlined in Rzesnitzek et al.’s paper “Psychosurgery in the History of Stereotactic Functional Neurosurgery.”

In the second part of the episode, we turn our attention to the role of serendipity in scientific discovery, inspired by Hariz et al.’s paper “Serendipity and Observations in Functional Neurosurgery: From James Parkinson’s Stroke to Hamani’s & Lozano’s Flashbacks.” We discuss the power of chance observations and unexpected findings in advancing our understanding of the brain and improving patient outcomes. We also debate the strengths and limitations of the serendipitous approach to discovery, in contrast to more systematic methods of target discovery.

Overall, our conversation with Drs. Krauss, Hariz, and Moll sheds light on the rich history and exciting future of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, and the fascinating interplay between serendipity and scientific discovery.