Noninvasive brain stimulation, neurobiology, neuromodulation.

The major focus of Dr. Rotenberg’s laboratory is the development of novel methods to treat brain injury, particularly the type of brain injury that leads to epilepsy. His group seeks to identify biological targets which can stop or prevent seizures if manipulated by either brain stimulation or by novel drugs that are being testing in his lab. Dr. Rotenberg has adapted methods for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to rodents, to in vitro brain slice preparations, and more recently to zebrafish (an emerging experimental tool in epilepsy). TMS and tDCS have in common the capacity to safely induce durable changes in neuronal activity. Limited experience with human patients, including those treated at Boston Children's Hospital, shows that TMS and tDCS have realistic prospects in suppressing seizures. Yet whether these techniques can prevent the onset of epilepsy after various forms of brain injury has not been tested. To characterize the cellular mechanisms by which TMS and tDCS exert their effect, and ultimately to optimize their clinical efficacy, he is testing these techniques in rodent epilepsy models, including models of traumatic brain injury (TBI).