My review with @caterinagratton.bsky.social is (apparently) open access for those who couldn't see it before:
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
We discuss individual differences in brain network organization and how to home in on and talk about commonalities in the face of such differences
A recent @natneuro.nature.com paper analyzed lesion network mapping and raised concerns about the validity of the method.
See below 👇 for our response.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
A recent paper in @natureportfolio.nature.com raised concerns about the lesion network mapping method. Our team of 16 coauthors analyzed >1000 lesions and 34 symptoms and found that "The methodological foundations of lesion network mapping remain sound" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We review studies showing that when brain areas face similar computational demands in social and non-social context, they perform the same computations. We argue that exaptation (repurposing of traits for new functions) played a key role in brain evolution.
Well now, would you look at that?
A massive study of NEARLY 300,000 people in the United States found that receiving an updated 2024-2025 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine REDUCED people’s risk of SEVERE disease AND death in ALL age groups, REGARDLESS of immunity from prior infection or vaccination.
I am thrilled to share that I’ll be joining the University of Notre Dame (@notredame.bsky.social) as an Assistant Professor of Psychology this July!☘️🧠 Please reach out if you're interested in joining my lab! More details to follow soon.
Objective Quality Assessment for Precision Functional MRI Data | bioRxiv www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🚨 New preprint: Objective Quality Assessment for Precision fMRI
Precision functional mapping (PFM) enables individual-level brain network studies — but demands more, and better, data.
We introduce an objective framework to determine when a dataset truly supports interpretable, replicable PFM.
A social club — started by Nico Dosenbach, MD, PhD and a colleague — dubbed the "Midnight Scan Club," leveraged low-cost nighttime fMRI scans to provide unique insights into individual brain function.
Read all about the history of precision self-scanning: https://bit.ly/4qeuLjR
#Medsky🧪 #IDsky #Neurosky #publichealth @nature.com This study has redefined #ParkinsonsDisease (PD) as a disorder of the Somato-Cognitive Action Network (SCAN), a brain system that integrates whole-body movement, cognition, and internal physiological states
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Breakthrough @nature.com study showcases new non-invasive treatment for Parkinson’s Disease that targets the somato-cognitive action network (SCAN) with personalized neuromodulation, for superior outcomes. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Targeting the somato-cognitive action network (SCAN) rather than motor regions doubles efficacy of TMS treatments for Parkinson’s disease. Seems that various DBS targets for Parkinson’s are selectively connected to the SCAN rather than effector-specific motor regions.🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The highlight of my week was the publication of "Parkinson’s disease as a somato-cognitive action network disorder" in @nature.com. It's a great paper that shows how conceptual changes in fundamental neuroscience - the discovery of SCAN - can improve treatment 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Huge congratulations to @jianxunren.bsky.social, Hesheng, and everyone involved in this tour de force.
More broadly, these findings highlight the importance of understanding the detailed organization of the human brain. Precision-targeted neuromodulation is the future. The next novel brain circuit identified could revolutionize treatments for depression, ADHD, or schizophrenia.
Personally, I’m so excited that the basic science we conducted describing the brain’s functional neuroanatomy could be translated to help patients. Neuroimaging-guided neuromodulation targeting SCAN could change the game for PD treatment.
So to sum up, the SCAN (Somato-Cognitive Action Network) is
• Connected to PD-relevant structures
• Hyperconnected in PD, possibly a biomarker of PD pathophysiology
• Modulated by successful treatment
• A superior target for precision treatment
Wow!
Similarly, focused ultrasound treatment targeting thalamus more effectively reduced symptoms when the target was close to the strongest SCAN-connected location in thalamus.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation targeting SCAN improved PD symptoms more and faster than TMS targeting effector-specific regions. It also reduced SCAN hyperconnectivity more than effector-targeted TMS.
Now here’s the really exciting part. If we now know that PD is specifically related to the SCAN circuit, can we improve treatments for PD by more precisely targeting SCAN? The answer is yes!
This isn’t specific to DBS treatment—the same effect was observed when patients were given dopaminergic medication (L-Dopa).
Does this SCAN-specific hyperconnectivity matter for treatment of PD symptoms? Yes it does! Successful STN-DBS treatment reduces pathological SCAN hyperconnectivity. Those changes track symptom improvement.
Maybe you’re skeptical of connectivity claims based on fMRI/functional connectivity. Jianxun and Hesheng tested cortico-subcortical connectivity with simultaneous STN-DBS and ECoG. STN stimulation evoked more and larger responses in cortical SCAN than in effector M1.
And the strength of this connectivity is associated with symptom severity.
We know from electrophysiology work that PD symptoms are caused by hyperconnectivity in M1-to-subcortical connections. Is this hyperconnectivity reflected in our neuroimaging measures? If so, is it specific to SCAN rather than being general across M1?
Yes, on both counts!
First, we know that M1 is tightly connected to subcortical structures in striatum and thalamus. But what part of M1? Jianxun and Hesheng showed that every subcortical structure that is relevant to PD is connected to SCAN, not to effector-specific M1.
It made sense to @jianxunren.bsky.social and Hesheng Liu too. They launched an amazing neuroimaging study to test whether SCAN, rather than traditional effector-specific M1 regions controlling the face, hand, and foot, is affected in PD. Their findings are incredibly compelling.
It makes a lot of sense. PD isn’t truly a “movement” disorder. Many of its movement symptoms are more about failures to initiate and maintain whole-body actions. It also exhibits psychiatric symptoms like apathy and depression, and autonomic symptoms.
We named this network the Somato-Cognitive Action Network (SCAN). As we were working to characterize this network in healthy controls, in the back of our minds we kept thinking that SCAN might be critical in Parkinson's.
In 2023 we described a new brain network inside primary motor cortex. Unlike traditional M1, this network doesn’t control effector-specific movement. Instead it integrates goals and intentions, autonomic functions, and whole-body actions.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
