Innovation
Personalizing Neuromodulation for Neuropsychiatric Disorders
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euromodulation, or brain stimulation, has emerged as a viable treatment option for neuropsychiatric disease, augmenting existing treatments such as drug-based and psychological therapies. At the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, UT Southwestern researchers are utilizing their knowledge to build infrastructure for personalized neuromodulatory therapies to treat patients with depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, psychosis, and anxiety. According to William T. Dauer, M.D., the inaugural Director of the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute and a Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at UT Southwestern, the evolution of electrical and magnetic brain stimulation technologies has led to the creation of high-tech stimulation devices and more
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Discovery at UT Southwestern 2 0 2 4
UT Southwestern researchers study the life-changing potential of neuromodulation to personalize neuropsychiatric care.
precise imaging. These advances have opened the door to understanding the complex neural pathways that contribute to neuropsychiatric disease and are helping clinicians target these diseased brain circuits. A UT Southwestern team of surgeons and researchers is now on the cusp of delivering personalized stimulation treatment, which tailors therapy to an individual’s unique characteristics, including their clinical history, symptoms, brain anatomy, and biology, and living environment. The O’Donnell Brain Institute has over 7,000 square feet of “dry lab” space dedicated to brain circuitry-related research where physician-scientists, neurosurgeons, bioinformaticians, electrical and biomedical engineers, psychiatrists, and theoretical neuroscientists are working together to advance these interventions.
