MHRC Research Seminar: Advances in Transcranial Brain Stimulation and Its Applications in Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Enjoy free admission, all are welcome.

* Seats are limited and will be allocated on a 'first in, first served' basis.
* Online link will be provided if the seats are full.
* Please note that NO Physiotherapy (PT) and Occupational Therapy (OT) CPD points will be offered by the research seminar.

Topic
Advances in Transcranial Brain Stimulation and Its Applications in Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Abstract
Transcranial Brain Stimulation (TMS & TCS) are increasingly used in basic research to study brain-behavior-relationships and in clinical practice for treating various mental disorders such as depression. We now know that the effects of TMS/TCS are state-dependent causing large intra- and inter-subject variability and hindering its reproducibility on single-subject-level. To improve its scientific reliability and clinical efficacy, it is imperative to gain a fundamental understanding of the TMS-induced brain network effects underlying these (differences in) mental changes. Our group has successfully demonstrated that concurrent TMS+fMRI can reveal how TMS signals propagate through connected cortico-subcortical-networks. However, concurrent TMS+fMRI studies ignore ongoing fluctuations in neural communication efficacy (oscillatory states) that affect how different network nodes interact. We propose to overcome this fundamental limitation by using the pioneering approach of concurrent TMS+EEG+fMRI, enabling us to apply TMS at predefined oscillatory state moments (phases) or amplitudes (power) and probe state-dependent gating of TMS signals within brain-wide functional networks. We use this innovation to open an exciting noninvasive avenue of network research into dynamic brain circuits and their dysfunction in neuropsychiatry and neurology. This leads to concrete recommendations on how to effectively use non-invasive neuromodulation technology for treating various psychiatric and neurological disorders. 

Speaker
Prof. Alexander T. Sack
Professor of Brain Stimulation and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience
Maastricht University
Netherlands

Biography
Professor Dr Alexander T. Sack is an internationally renowned expert in noninvasive brain stimulation, and especially in combining brain stimulation with brain imaging techniques. He is currently appointed as Chair and Full Professor of Brain Stimulation and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience at Maastricht University and Maastricht University Medical Center. In 2015, Prof. Sack co-founded and is currently still a board member of the Dutch-Flemish Brain Stimulation Foundation, aiming to promote scientific research and collaboration in the field of noninvasive brain stimulation and its translation to clinical practice. Since 2017, Prof. Sack is also Co-Director of the interfaculty Center for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN), at which all activities with regard to neuroscience, research, innovation, and patientcare are framed within an interdisciplinary cooperation. Prof. Sack is also heading the research section “Brain Stimulation and Cognition” at the Maastricht Brain Imaging Centre. His group pioneered the development of simultaneously implemented TMS-fMRI-EEG during cognitive behaviour, allowing to apply brain-stimulation while recording the individual brain network (fMRI) and oscillation (EEG) responses of cognitively engaged participants. Prof. Sack has received several international grants and awards, enabling him to develop and manage a larger scale international and interdisciplinary research project on the neural network dynamics underlying human cognition in healthy volunteers and to translate these findings into clinical applications for treating various neurological and neuropsychiatric brain disorders.