Brain and Human Body Modeling Conference – from Fast and Accurate Computational Modeling to Clinical Practice

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ABSTRACT Brain stimulation therapies are important and effective treatments for people with depression and other mental disorders. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is supporting studies exploring how to make brain stimulation therapies more personalized and effective while reducing side effects. For all brain stimulation modalities, computational numerical modeling of the electric fields within a patient-specific head model is the leading and most promising way to develop improved spatial targeting methods and quantitatively determine the required stimulation dose. Similarly, neurophysiological signal analyses require extensive numerical computational modeling to identify active cortical domains from limited electrode voltage and magnetometer measurements. The present proposal will facilitate development of fast and accurate brain and human body modeling methods and techniques via a dedicated computational conference on Brain and Human Body Modeling. Aligned with NIMH’s mission, the specific aims of this proposal and the major technical focus of the conference will include the following: (i) Computational modeling of electric and magnetic fields within the brain targeting neurostimulation modalities (TMS, TES, DBS) and associated neurophysiological recordings (EEG, iEEG, MEG); (ii) Integration of modeling techniques into clinical practice. These modeling techniques are aimed to provide better focality, targeting accuracy, and improve the overall efficiency of the brain stimulation methods. They will also support promising combinations and derivatives of the neuromodulation and neurophysiological recordings such as TMS-EEG and TES-EEG. No established computational methods for modeling these combined modalities currently exist. The conference will include related topics that share very similar, sometimes identical, computational methods and tools. We aim to synergistically share these computational tools for maximal benefit and to facilitate interactions across disciplines.