This work represents a new research direction the team is taking. If you study EEG biomarkers of neurotherapeutics we'd love to start a conversation!

Insights gained from biophysical modeling with the @hnnsolver.bsky.social software can help at many decision points in the neurotherapeutic development pipeline, including building evidence of target engagement, and for target selection and dosing

The default HNN model is used as a starting point to test hypotheses by either manually altering the values of the chosen model parameters, or using automated optimization and inference algorithms. Differences in parameter values pre-to post-treatment correspond to model-based predictions.

In this new preprint from the @hnnsolver.bsky.social team, we lay out a protocol for how biophysical modeling can link treatment-induced changes in EEG to cell- and circuit-level mechanisms of action

Biophysical modeling allows for testing mechanistic hypotheses that explain how EEG biomarkers emerge and change with drugs. Hypotheses about which drug mechanisms lead to distinct brain activity patterns must be constructed, and corresponding model parameters identified.

Measuring pre- to post/treatment EEG biomarkers has the potential to help with this goal, but current methods fail to link these biomarkers to concrete mechanisms of actions that causally alter the EEG. This missing link hinders the utility of EEG in advancing effective neurotherapeutics

Modeling EEG biomarkers begins with picking a specific brain signal that is reliably different between patient populations. An example of a hypothetical EEG biomarker is an auditory event related potential (ERP) that is suppressed in post-treatment (red) relative to pre-treatment (blue).

One of the major challenges in neurotherapeutic development is understanding how treatments are impacting individual brain networks

Biophysical modeling to develop and test mechanistic hypotheses underlying pharmacological EEG biomarkers. Top: Modeling EEG biomarkers begins with picking a specific brain signal that is reliably different between patient populations. An example of a hypothetical EEG biomarker is an auditory event related potential (ERP) that is suppressed in post-treatment (red) relative to pre-treatment (blue). Middle: Biophysical modeling allows for testing mechanistic hypotheses that explain how EEG biomarkers emerge and change with drugs. Hypotheses about which drug mechanisms lead to distinct brain activity patterns must be constructed, and corresponding model parameters identified. Bottom: The default HNN model is used as a starting point to test hypotheses by either manually altering the values of the chosen model parameters, or using automated optimization and inference algorithms. Differences in parameter values pre-to post-treatment correspond to model-based predictions.

Happy to share a new preprint from the @hnnsolver.bsky.social team!🧠💻🎉

"Uncovering putative neural mechanisms of neurotherapeutic impacts on EEG using the Human Neocortical Neurosolver"

📝 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Same TMS pulse, different brain state → different outcome.

Using TMS + fMRI + EEG, researchers show that timing stimulation to prefrontal alpha phase boosts engagement of control & limbic circuits in TRD.

Not just where we stimulate....but when. ⚡️🧠

#TMS #EEG #BrainStimulation

ok might as well come out and say it. for a creative hobby, i started working on a screenplay (spec script?) - an adaptation of Native Speaker by Chang-Rae Lee, a book i felt should have been adapted years ago. but it remains timely and perhaps even viable. AMA i guess!

Testing circuit-level theories of consciousness in humans Our understanding of the neural basis of consciousness is mostly restricted to large-scale brain activity patterns as measured by methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magneto/electro-encephalography (M/EEG). In contrast, we lack even basic understanding of circuit-level mechanisms supporting consciousness – particularly in humans – despite the fundamental role that such mechanisms likely play in instantiating larger-scale brain activity patterns supporting conscious states and contents. Here, we review what progress has been made on circuit-level theories of consciousness (e.g., apical amplification theory, dendritic integration theory) and argue that such theories can be tested in humans using recently developed, state-of-the-art methods. Doing so will further facilitate translation of consciousness science into clinical settings and strengthen the bridge between circuit- and network-level theories of consciousness.

Online Now: Testing circuit-level theories of consciousness in humans

It's time to move beyond abstract debates and build a mechanistic systems neuroscience that bridges circuits to #consciousness. Thanks to my co-authors, especially @adykstra.bsky.social @tmarvan.bsky.social @jonescompneurolab.bsky.social, for leading this effort!

#consci

The same circuit principles apply across disorders of consciousness, dementia, and psychiatric conditions. These aren't separate disorders but variations in how circuit disruptions manifest as symptoms in conscious experience.

Here's what excites me most: consciousness isn't merely a philosophical abstraction. It's a measurable, treatable dimension of symptomatic experience. When we understand the circuit basis of consciousness, we understand neurological symptoms at their most fundamental level.

Our review shows how new methods in neuroimaging, biophysical modeling, and human systems neuroscience can finally begin to test what's actually happening at the circuit level, from arousal to the thalamus and the cortex.

This gap hurts both neuroscience and consciousness research. It has informed my take on the field of consciousness science today. We're building increasingly abstract theories on signals we can't properly explain.

A personal story: For years, I've watched #consciousness debates narrow into IIT vs GNW camps while we overlooked something fundamental: we don't actually understand the circuit mechanisms that generate the macroscale EEG signals used to support these theories.

It's a privilege to be part of this new review in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social: Testing circuit-level theories of consciousness with modern neuroimaging and biophysical modeling 🧵

#eeg #consci #consciousness #neuroscience

www.cell.com/trends/cogni...

Our open-access article - Testing circuit-level theories of consciousness in humans - together with Yunkai Zhu, Carolina Fernandez Pujol, @dvwz.bsky.social, @jonescompneurolab.bsky.social, @tmarvan.bsky.social, and @danclab.bsky.social, was just published @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social.

Sources of Richness and Ineffability for Phenomenally Conscious States Conscious states (states that there is something it is like to be in) seem both rich or full of detail, and ineffable or hard to fully describe or recall. The problem of ineffability, in particular, i...

An information theoretic and dynamical systems framework for the explanatory gap by deep learning researchers. "Sources of Richness and Ineffability for Phenomenally Conscious States" arxiv.org/abs/2302.06403

From interview of Lee Bollinger, 1st Amendment scholar who served as dean of @UMichLaw, president of @UMich, and president of Columbia University.
www.chronicle.com/article/were...

If you've been calling Congress, keep calling & if not, start-we're getting their attention. We had a good visit to a Congressional office yesterday to discuss science funding & the staffer told us how busy they've been-usually the Senate shwitchboard gets 64 calls/minute-now they're getting 1600 🧪

wow: Biogen quits Aduhelm, handing back rights to original developer www.biopharmadive.com/news/biogen-... #Alzheimers

Paramedics convicted in Elijah McClain’s death Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec were charged in 2021 with reckless manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide for administering ketamine to Elijah McClain.

Breaking news: Colorado paramedics who gave Elijah McClain ketamine during fatal 2019 arrest found guilty of criminally negligent homicide

Thalamic deep brain stimulation in traumatic brain injury: a phase 1, randomized feasibility study -... A phase 1 feasibility trial shows that bilateral deep brain stimulation within the central lateral thalamus can be safely applied and is associated with improved executive control.

Thalamic deep brain stimulation in traumatic brain injury: a phase 1, randomized feasibility study www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Piece on the new thalamic DBS phase 1 study by Niko Schiff and colleagues out today in Nature Medicine www.nytimes.com/2023/12/04/h...

can we do a control where they learn the opposite (stalactites as stalagmites) and see what it does to their love of science

Applications are now open for the Carney Institute’s spring 2024 season of the BrainExPo (external postdoc) seminar series!

If you are an advanced postdoc in brain science, apply to visit Brown + give a guest talk! Logistical info at linked page. Deadline is Dec. 1.

#psychscisky #neuroskyence

"246 biologists get different results from same data sets.
Wide distribution of findings shows how analytical choices drive conclusions."
#philsci 🌍 #evobio

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

probably “adhd”

Is there a German word for having a cool idea but unsure if it’s cool enough that no one is currently doing it but not necessarily wanting to do it yourself due to other cool ideas still on the back burner but not wanting the opportunity pass by but weighing costs across all opportunities and decidi