The Amazing (ongoing) revolution in brain stimulation methods as treatments and tools of discovery

Mark George, MD Director Magnetic Brain Stimulation Laboratory Medical University of South Carolina Dr. Mark George built a campus-wide research brain imaging division and the brain stimulation laboratory in the Department of Psychiatry. As an undergraduate student in philosophy at Davidson College, Dr. George began studying the relationship between mind and brain, or brain/behavior relationships. He has continued this interest throughout his career with a focus on using brain imaging and brain stimulation to understand depression and devise new treatments. He was one of the first to use functional brain imaging during normal emotions as well as in depression and mania. He has grown the science of brain stimulation, both in terms of how the treatments work in the brain, and in critically evaluating their therapeutic applications, especially in treating depression. He has been continuously funded by NIH and other funding agencies since his fellowships. He has received numerous national and international awards. In 2009 U.S. News and World Report named him one of 14 ‘medical pioneers who are not holding back’. He has published over 400 scientific articles or book chapters, and has written or edited six books. Talk Title: The Amazing (ongoing) revolution in brain stimulation methods as treatments and tools of discovery Learning Objectives: 1) Understand that the brain is an electrochemical organ and the electricity is the currency of the brain. 2) Be able to name two different diseases that are FDA approved for being treated with brain stimulation methods. 3) Describe the accelerating pace of discovery in the brain stimulation space.