A target on an image is a starting point. We want to know what stimulation actually engages in an individual brain.
Target, intensity and state
We investigate the relationship between individual connectivity, stimulation dose and evoked responses in cortical and remote regions. This includes the DLPFC–sgACC network and research on orbitofrontal access to fronto-limbic circuits.
Our goal is to make parameter choices more informative: compare candidate targets, quantify dose–response patterns and assess how task context changes engagement.
Connecting mechanism to clinical research
Network engagement is a mechanistic measurement. Establishing its value for treatment selection requires separate evaluation against clinical outcomes. Our international collaborations support that next translational step.
Personalised stimulation in depression research
We combine MRI-guided target selection with interleaved measurements of the response during stimulation. Our experiments investigate how prefrontal stimulation, including intermittent theta-burst protocols, engages cortical and deeper fronto-limbic regions.
In collaboration with Stanford, LMU Munich, Toronto and Hong Kong Polytechnic University, we aim to make target selection and dosing more informative. Mechanistic findings are evaluated separately from clinical treatment outcomes.
Evidence for individual dose and brain state
Two shared studies with the Stanford Brain Stimulation Lab illustrate why target location is only part of the question. One maps individual dose–response patterns; the other asks how working-memory state changes prefrontal and remote responses. Both inform mechanistic research rather than establishing clinical efficacy.
Concurrent TMS/fMRI reveals individual DLPFC dose-response pattern
Tik M et al.
Prefrontal BOLD responses vary between individuals across motor-threshold-based stimulation intensities.
Chronometric TMS-fMRI of personalized left dorsolateral prefrontal target reveals state-dependency of subgenual anterior cingulate cortex effects
Grosshagauer S et al.
A study in healthy participants examining how task timing changes prefrontal and remote network engagement.