1. What is your favorite part about neuromodulation work?
It is exciting and interesting to consider how devices can interface with the nervous system to improve brain function.
2. What is your favorite kind of neuromodulation technique and/or equipment and why?
Deep brain stimulation, it can be an effective treatment for movement disorders and other brain conditions though there is still much to learn about its mechanisms of action and how to improve its use.
3. What kind of conditions do you treat with neuromodulation?
Parkinson’s disease is the main condition I treat.
4. Any sparks of inspiration you would like to share?
Be open to observations that you or others make that challenge your assumptions.
5. What is your favorite part of the brain and why?
The basal ganglia… this system of interconnected subcortical nuclei is involved in everything!
6. Any exciting news or breakthroughs you'd like to share regarding your neuromodulation work?
My graduate student, Devyn Bauer, is developing an approach to record from hundreds of neurons in the basal ganglia, which is an exciting advance that will greatly improve our understanding of neural circuit changes in Parkinson’s disease and insights into how neuromodulation approaches like deep brain stimulation alters brain activity and produces therapeutic effects.
