PROF. TALMA HENDLER (MD, PhD)
Dr. Talma Hendler (MD PhD): Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University, and the founding director of the Tel Aviv Center for Brain Functions at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. Professor Hendler holds an MD from Tel Aviv University and a PhD from SUNY at Stony Brook, NY. and is a licensed psychiatrist in Israel.
Goal: Developing a neurostimulator and monitoring technology to facilitate individualized patient care and follow-up (e.g. ADHD, Parkinson's disease and Depression).
The Brain Stimulation-Monitoring-Toolbox or BSMT consortium has been organized and financed by the MAGNET Program of the Chief Scientist Officer (CSO) of the Israeli Ministry of Economy. The consortium consists of 5 industrial companies (AlphaOmega LTD, Brainsway LTD, ElMindA LTD, Or-Nim LTD, Insightec LTD) and 11 research groups from 6 different academic institutions.
The purpose of the consortium is to establish generic technologies for the integration of neurostimulation technologies with monitoring technologies for the ultimate goal of treating brain diseases with a system based on the principles of closed-loop feedback and personalized treatment. These aims are closely linked to the goals of the discovery and utilization of neuro-markers of brain disorder to optimize treatment. This represents a topical, emerging area with huge potential for in the development of radically new ways of treating disease.
The neurostimulation technologies available to the partners in the consortium include deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS), focused ultrasound (FUS) and deep brain stimulation (DBS). The monitoring technologies include electroencephalograms (EEG), wherein the EEG signals are analyzed in order to deliver networks (BNA), non-invasive monitoring of blood hemodynamics, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), micro-electrode recordings (MER) and other intracranial recordings.
Our role in the consortium lies in utilizing the combination of EEG, fMRI and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to develop a potential treatment for individuals suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Combining multiple monitoring techniques along with non-invasive stimulation can aid in the mapping and treatment of functional networks and processes impaired in neurological and psychiatric disorders. This study presents a unique treatment protocol for ADHD that includes pre-post EEG-fMRI scans and multiple treatment sessions with combined tDCS and EEG monitoring. Stimulation is targeted at the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG), a region activated during response inhibition, during performance of a stop-signal task activating the same region. We hope that the combination of these techniques will help us achieve a more comprehensive model of ADHD that will take into account individual differences and enable a prediction for treatment success.
Kea Publications
Delineating gray and white matter involvement in brain lesions: 3D alignment of fMRI and DTI.
Spatio-temporal indications of sub-cortical involvement in leftward bias of spatial attention.
The dark side of the alpha rhythm: fMRI evidence for induced alpha modulation during complete darkness
Distinct iEEG activity patterns in temporal-limbic and prefrontal sites induced by emotional intentionality.