HUMAN SYSTEMS NEUROSCIENCE
The Brain Modulation Lab was founded at the University of Pittsburgh in 2011 and moved to the MGH in 2019. We are a human systems neuroscience lab studying brain electrophysiology and behavior in patients undergoing surgery for epilepsy, movement disorders, and psychiatric disease. The goal of our work is to facilitate the development and optimization of electrical and biological brain modulation therapies, by filling critical gaps in our understanding of human brain function.
PRINCIPLE INVESTIGATOR
Mark Richardson, MD, PhD, FAANS
Director of Functional Neurosurgery, MGH
Charles Pappas Associate Professor of Neurosciences, Harvard Medical School
Visiting Associate Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
FACULTY SCIENTISTS
Vasileios Kokkinos, PhD
Instructor in Neurosurgery, MGH
Harvard Medical School
Alan Bush, PhD
Instructor in Neurosurgery, MGH
Harvard Medical School
CONTRIBUTING SCIENTISTS
Varun Saravanan, PhD
Data Scientist
MGH-MIT inBRAIN Collaboration
Victoria Peterson, PhD
Harvard Research Fellow
Brain Modulation Lab
Ashley Walton, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow
Cognitive Science Program, Dartmouth
Nathan Sisterson, MD
Neurosurgery Resident, MGH
Sonika Agarwal, BS
Research Coordinator
Nora Daly, MSHS, PA-C
Physician Assistant
MGH Functional Neurosurgery
RESEARCH THEMES
Basal Ganglia-Cortical Dynamics in Human Behavior
Intraoperatively, we collect simultaneously recorded cortical ECoG, subcortical MER/LFP, and behavioral data to study interactions between the cortex and basal ganglia that encode specific components of motor control.
STN and STN-Cortical Coding of Speech Production
BRAIN Initiative
Cortical-Basal Ganglia Speech Networks
BRAIN Initiative
Deep Neural Network Approaches for Closed-loop DBS
CRNCS in collaboration with ICNeuromodulation Neumann Group - Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Closed-Loop Brain Stimulation for Epilepsy
The lab's initial work in brain stimulation for epilepsy involved sensing-enabled DBS (PC+S and RC+S) in a nonhuman primate with idiopathic epilepsy. Subsequently, in order to better understand data recorded during responsive neurostimulation in our epilepsy patients, we built BRAINStim, a platform for Biophysically Rational Analysis and Informed Stimulation.
Clinical Innovation in Functional Neurosurgery
The lab's resources, including surgical databases, are leveraged to innovate and advance neurosurgical strategies and technical approaches to better treat epilepsy, movement disorders, and other brain diseases.
Thier Building, 4th floor
Massachusetts General Hospital
50 Blossom St.
Boston, MA 02114