Prof Friedhelm Hummel | Non-invasive deep brain stimulation to modulate human behaviour

Please note the date for this event  has changed from Wednesday 22nd March to Wednesday 10th May, full details below.

This seminar is free to attend and is open to all, both within and outside the University. If you wish to attend in person or via Zoom, please register your interest to attend via the Zoom portal using the link above. Exact location details will be shared prior to the event via email.

We are delighted to announce that the Centre for Human Brain Health (CHBH) will welcome Professor Friedhelm Hummel, Director Defitech Chair of Clinical Neuroengineering at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and laboratory head at UPHummel Lab, to present a hybrid CHBH Seminar, taking place on Wednesday 10th May 2023, 13:00-14:00. Attendance is possible either in person (exact location details will be shared prior to the event via email), or online via Zoom, if you wish to attend in person or via Zoom, please register your interest to attend via the Zoom portal using the link above. Exact location details will be shared prior to the event via email. 

Prof Hummel's Twitter handle is @UPHUMMEL_EPFL and he can be contacted on friedhelm.hummel@epfl.ch.

The hour after the seminar is reserved for a prospective, optional workshop/informal discussion with the speaker and host, all are welcome to attend.

To arrange a 1:1 meeting with the speaker, please state your interest when registering to attend via the link above.

CHBH Event Host
Dr Katja Kornysheva

Non-invasive deep brain stimulation to modulate human behaviour 

Abstract

It is of great interest to modulate key deep brain structures implementing cognitive functions non-invasively to understand their function and potentially treat their dysfunction in humans. Traditional non-invasive brain stimulation methods such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial electric stimulation (e.g., tDCS, tACS) cannot target deep brain structures selectively, i.e., without a strong co-stimulation of the overlaying cortical layers (depth-focality trade-off).

Here, I will focus on non-invasive neuromodulation of deep brain structures using transcranial temporal interference electrical stimulation (tTIS) (Grossman et al. Cell 2017), a method with the potential to selectively modulate deep brain structures with good focality-depth trade-off, and enhance respective cognitive functions.

I will introduce the concept of tTIS-based neuromodulation and show novel, first evidence from studies in humans that tTIS allows to modulate selectively deep brain structures such as the striatum or the hippocampus with the respective impact on behaviour and brain activity (Wessel, Beanato et al. 2022 bioRxiv; Vassiliadis et al. 2022 bioRxiv).

In summary, the present seminar will provide an introduction into a novel and innovative way to modulate the activity of deep brain structures supported by basic knowledge acquired from animal, simulation and cadaver studies and will provide first in humans insights from different studies targeting core deep brain structures within different cognitive contexts by behavioral and MRI-based analyses.

Speaker Biography

Friedhelm Hummel is a fully trained neurologist, Full Professor and Director of the Defitech Chair of Clinical Neuroengineering at the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and an Adjunct Professor at the University Hospital of Geneva (HUG).

He works in the field of translational systems neuroscience focusses on neuroplasticity, motor and cognitive functions and learning in healthy aging, stroke recovery, traumatic brain injury and minimal cognitive impairment applying non-invasive brain stimulation and multimodal neuroimaging.

This seminar is free to attend and is open to all, both within and outside the University. If you wish to attend in person or via Zoom, please register your interest to attend via the Zoom portal using the link above. Exact location details will be shared prior to the event via email.

Please note the date for this event  has changed from Wednesday 22nd March to Wednesday 10th May, full details below.