Stimulating Brains

Andreas Horn interviews experts in the field of deep brain stimulation, noninvasive neuromodulation, functional brain imaging and neuroanatomy. Join us on our quest to interact with the human brain and thank you for your interest in science! Andreas Horn, M.D., Ph.D., directs the institute for network stimulation and is a professor for computational neurology at University Cologne.

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Episodes

#11: Katrin Amunts – A modern take on human brain anatomy and its relevance to DBS

Katrin Amunts is the Scientific Research Director of the Human Brain Project and leads two centers at Forschungszentrum Jülich and the University Hospital Düsseldorf. With her internationally recognized work that includes the BigBrain and JuBrain projects and use of novel methodology such as polarized light imaging, she follows the footsteps of famous anatomists of the past, such as Cecile and Oskar Vogt, name givers of her institute. We talk about the relevance of anatomical models and ultra-hi...

Apr 28, 2021•51 min•Season 1Ep. 11

#10: Cameron McIntyre – Pushing the frontier of biophysically plausible DBS models

Cameron McIntyre and I talk about biophysically plausible deep brain stimulation models that his laboratory has established and continues to refine since about 20 years. Cameron shares insights from a time where DBS modeling was not a thing – how his career choice to step into the realms of medical hospitals as a biomedical engineer had been risky or at least unusual at the time. We learn why the VTA model was originally a step backwards and why there is a large difference between inventions &am...

Feb 28, 2021•1 hr 49 min•Season 1Ep. 10

#9: Mac Shine – A thalamus-centric view of basal ganglia, cerebellar and cortical interactions

Mac Shine and I talk about Mac's recent intriguing opinion paper that may have radical implications for systems and clinical neuroscience. In it, the thalamus mediates between feed-forward type input from cerebellum, sensori nuclei and cortex one one hand and input from the basal ganglia that introduces an element of randomness. By projecting to the cortex in a specific manner, the thalamus can recruit these inputs to shape the attractor landscape of cortical activations. Mac develops this a the...

Dec 22, 2020•1 hr 50 min•Season 1Ep. 9

#8: Mojgan Hodaie – Connectivity aided targeting in neuromodulation for neuropathic pain

In this guest episode, Luka Milosevic talks with Mojgan Hodaie about the neuromodulation for neuropathic pain, how serendipity may lead to a whole novel research field, how our teachers shape the way we think about the brain and how we may learn from each single patient we get in contact with. Prof. Hodaie is a world-wide expert in stereotactic surgery with a special focus on (imaging guided targeting of) neuropathic pain. The Hodaie lab published the seminal article demonstrating the feasibilit...

Dec 04, 2020•56 min•Season 1Ep. 8

#7: Patricia Limousin – Subthalamic Nucleus Stimulation: From Parkinson's Disease to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

In this episode, we talk with Patricia Limousin about the early days of DBS in the modern era to the current day and about what the future may hold. Building up on episode #4 with Pierre Pollak, we find out how Patricia experienced programming the first bilateral STN-DBS patient, and what has changed over the last 30 years. Professor Limousin has worked at the UCL Institute of Neurology and the National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery since 1997, where she is currently a Professor of C...

Nov 21, 2020•50 min•Season 1Ep. 7

#6: Lone Frank – Robert Heath, the forgotten inventor of Deep Brain Stimulation

In this episode, Lone Frank shares insight about her book “The Pleasure Shock: The Rise of Deep Brain Stimulation and Its Forgotten Inventor” in which she delved into the academic life of a true pioneer of our field. Robert Heath invented deep brain stimulation in the 1950ies and was a remarkable pioneer of our field. Lone's book takes us on a trip delving deep into the discoveries – but also controversies around Heath and his contemporaries, such as José Delgado and Frank Ervin.

Sep 21, 2020•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 6

#5: Günther Deuschl – On the importance of transforming Deep Brain Stimulation to evidence based medicine

In this episode, Günther Deuschl shares insight about his life in neurology and the endeavors to transform deep brain stimulation for movement disorders as established treatment options supported by class one evidence. He has been instrumental in multiple major clinical trials, such as the randomized double-blind clinical trial for DBS to the subthalamic nucleus in Parkinson's Disease ( Deuschl et al. 2006 ), a similar study for modulation of the internal pallidum in dystonia ( Kupsch et al. 200...

Aug 22, 2020•39 min•Season 1Ep. 5

#4 Pierre Pollak – How modern-day Deep Brain Stimulation for movement disorders was introduced in Grenoble

In this episode, Pierre Pollak shares insight about his life in neurology, music and sports and how he introduced modern-day deep brain stimulation for movement disorders together with Alim Louis Benabid and the team in Grenoble in 1987. After his retirement from academia and neurology, Pierre took up playing piano and spending time with physical activity (cycling, winter sports, etc) – and he mentioned that our conversation was the first about deep brain stimulation he had in over five years. H...

Jul 05, 2020•55 min•Season 1Ep. 4

#3: Marwan Hariz – a strong role for imaging and being critical in the field of DBS

In this episode, Marwan Hariz shares insight about why imaging is both the past and the future for deep brain stimulation, how its role of being the “court jester” or “stereotaxy police” emerged and why critical discussions are important for our field.

Jun 14, 2020•1 hr 38 min•Season 1Ep. 3

#2 Helen Mayberg – Deep Brain Stimulation for Major Depression

In this episode, Helen Mayberg shares the experience made when the first major depression patient received deep brain stimulation electrodes, some anecdotes about the past and lots of good advice about the future.

May 29, 2020•1 hr 21 min•Season 1Ep. 2

#1: Christian Moll – from Wernicke to Functional Neurosurgery and Back

The German submarine sunk a ship that was carrying Freeman and Watts' handbook to Europe, leading to a delayed start of psychosurgery in Germany. Influence of anatomists like Carl Wernicke or Cecile & Oskar Vogt on the field was strong, with eminent figures like Rolf Hassler paving the was to precision in functional neurosurgery. Christian Moll may be the most experienced electrophysiologist in the DBS field in Germany with a vast knowledge in anatomy. Less known, he is also highly intereste...

May 24, 2020•52 min•Season 1Ep. 1

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