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Michael Fox

Michael Fox

@foxmdphd.bsky.social

2.1K followers 90 following 31 posts

Raymond D. Adams Endowed Chair and Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School / Mass General Brigham; Director of the Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics @braincircuits.bsky.social

Biology 26%

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Michael Fox @foxmdphd.bsky.social · Nov 16

Excited to join Bluesky!
I’m an engineer, neurologist, and neuroscientist interested in causal mapping of neurological and psychiatric symptoms to human brain circuits to identify therapeutic targets for neuromodulation. #DBS, #TMS

Reposted by Michael H. Fox

BD² @bipolardiscoveries.org · 6d

🧪 Research Spotlight: Ziad Nahas, MD, MSCR, is studying how brain networks regulate mood in #BipolarDisorder & how instability drives shifts between depression & mania with PACE

👉 Goal: Test if targeting networks can improve mood & reveal mechanisms behind switches.

🔗 bit.ly/4gTbBwU

Reposted by Michael H. Fox

Andrew Reid @reid-lab.org · 20d

This is 🤯

All publicly available. Looks like an amazing new histology-based human probabilistic atlas and parcellation tool.

#neuroskyence #mri #brainmapping

A probabilistic histological atlas of the human brain for MRI segmentation | Nature share.google/5AD0iW7pxgb4...

A probabilistic histological atlas of the human brain for MRI segmentation - Nature

NextBrain is an open source, probabilistic atlas of the entire human brain, assembled using artificial-intelligence-enabled registration and segmentation methods to reconstruct the multimodal serial h...

Reposted by Michael H. Fox

BD² @bipolardiscoveries.org · 20d

🧪 Research Spotlight: Michael Fox, MD, PhD (@foxmdphd.bsky.social) of Mass General Brigham (@mgbresearch.bsky.social) will map brain circuits driving symptoms in #BipolarDisorder

👉 Goal: Go beyond imaging correlations to identify the circuits causing symptoms.

🔗 bit.ly/4gTbBwU

Reposted by Michael H. Fox

Andreas Horn @andreashorn.org · 26d

Nice case report led by Ben Shofty's team adding prospective evidence for tract based reprogramming in deep brain stimulation for obsessive compulsive disorder out in @biologicalpsych.bsky.social:

www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S000...

🧵

Michael Fox @foxmdphd.bsky.social · 28d

Can we identify brain circuit targets to treat symptoms of bipolar disorder? Thanks to funding from @bipolardiscoveries.org our team @braincircuits.bsky.social will be working hard to find out! Honored to be one of these excellent teams.
www.news-medical.net/news/2025102...

BD² expands global effort to examine the key mechanisms of bipolar disorder

Today, BD², or Breakthrough Discoveries for thriving with Bipolar Disorder, announced its third round of Discovery Research grants, totaling nearly $18 million – expanding a comprehensive global effor...

www.news-medical.net

Reposted by Michael H. Fox

Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Oct 21

From a new @thelancet.com article today entitled "Health care in the USA: money has become the mission" www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Reposted by Jennifer Bussell, Michael H. Fox

Sarah Heilbronner @srheilbronner.bsky.social · Oct 21

Suzanne Haber was just elected to the National Academy of Medicine! Her work on the organization of the cortex and basal ganglia has had a huge impact. Please take the opportunity to congratulate her the next time you see her. www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/u...

University of Rochester Neurobiologist Suzanne Haber Elected to National Academy of Medicine

An internationally recognized scientist, her work has transformed our understanding of the brain networks that play a central role in many mental health disorders, including obsessive compulsive disor...

www.urmc.rochester.edu

Reposted by Michael H. Fox

Brain @brain1878.bsky.social · Oct 7

Pruckner et al. show that the structural effects of neurosurgery extend beyond the resected tissue into connected networks through transneuronal degeneration. They were able to reliably predict these changes from preoperative MRI. tinyurl.com/a6rxvbey

Reposted by Michael H. Fox

Andreas Horn @andreashorn.org · Oct 1

Fantastic talk by Joe Taylor on the „philosophers scan“ and how imaging can help neuromodulation at the Brainclinics TMS Masterclass in Nijmegen!

Reposted by Michael H. Fox

Michael Okun @michaelokun.bsky.social · Sep 29

Could the Parkinson’s drug levodopa prime the brain to respond better to intensive rehabilitation following a stroke or injury? Enter the idea: Let’s give dopamine pills after a stroke? Spoiler alert: This new large, randomized trial published in JAMA revealed no added benefit in recovery.

Michael Fox @foxmdphd.bsky.social · Sep 25

Honored to moderate a panel on noninvasive mapping of human brain circuits at MGB Neuroscience Day.
Great insights from @anastasiayendiki.bsky.social
@mghmartinos.bsky.social, @fredschaper.bsky.social
@braincircuits.bsky.social, Alex Golby and Pravan Nanda @mgbneurosurgres.bsky.social.

Reposted by Michael H. Fox

Michael Okun @michaelokun.bsky.social · Sep 23

Boom: The results of the ADAPT-PD personalized brain stimulation trial showed promise for treating Parkinson’s. First longer-term results for adaptive DBS in PD. Adaptive stimulation automatically adjusts in real time to a person’s brain signals. @parkinsondotorg.bsky.social

Reposted by Michael H. Fox

Michael Okun @michaelokun.bsky.social · Sep 21

What is the update for skin biopsies to differentiate Parkinson's vs. MSA? Spoiler alert: under confocal microscope, skin biopsies look different in PD vs MSA. Donadio and colleagues describe in a new paper in Brain the uses of intraneural phosphorylated α-synuclein. @parkinsondotorg.bsky.social

Reposted by Michael H. Fox

Brain @brain1878.bsky.social · Sep 19

Mongay-Ochoa et al. review advanced methods for mapping brain connections and identify common topographical patterns of pathology spread across different neurological disorders, including MS, AD and PD. tinyurl.com/3sz8ayup

Michael Fox @foxmdphd.bsky.social · Sep 5

Can connectomic DBS go beyond where to stimulate to inform who and when? Great discussion @dbsthinktank.bsky.social with @rolstonjohn.bsky.social @julianneumann.bsky.social suggest yes! @braincircuits.bsky.social

Reposted by Michael H. Fox

Andreas Horn @andreashorn.org · Sep 3

In #DeepBrainStimulation

the two major developments across the last decade have been

1. Adaptive DBS and
2. Connectomic DBS

In a @natrevneurol.nature.com article with @julianneumann.bsky.social, we ask:

Could the two be united into a common framework?

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A 🧵

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis, Michael H. Fox, Ruairidh Milne

Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Sep 2

A nasal spray reduced the risk of Covid infections in a double blind, placebo controlled randomized trial
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Reposted by Kim L. Scheppele, Lisa W. Fazio, Michael Barnett , and 7 more Kim L. Scheppele, Lisa W. Fazio, Michael Barnett, Daniel Kim, Jesse H. Kroll, John R. Hutchinson, Michael H. Fox, Dawn J. Wright, Robert C. Richards, Timothy D. McBride

Dr. David Miller 🏳️‍🌈 @davidimiller.bsky.social · Sep 1

🧪 And House appropriators say: no cuts to NIH budget!

House subcommittee version just came out (link below). Holds NIH flat at $48 billion.

To be clear: this is far from over. But a good sign that science still matters across both sides of aisle.

YOUR VOICE MATTERS!!

Reposted by Michael H. Fox

Nicole Rust @nicolecrust.bsky.social · Aug 29

Remarkable. Uncontrollable laughing or crying can happen *without* emotion ("pseudobulbar affect"). Here's a video of one individual whose crying is triggered by real or imagined rubbing of his finger & thumb. Intense response but not sadness. /1

static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10...

Crying spells triggered by thumb-index rubbing after thalamic stroke: a case report

Reposted by Michael H. Fox

Andreas Horn @andreashorn.org · Aug 22

🚨 New preprint out! 🚨
“Translating the Transcriptome: A Connectomics Approach for Gene-Network Mapping and Clinical Application”
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...

🧵 A short thread:

Michael Fox @foxmdphd.bsky.social · Aug 19

Sending off 2 of our best research assistants ‬to graduate programs that are lucky to have them. Congrats Grace and Jessy and we look forward to your ongoing success! @braincircuits.bsky.social

Reposted by Michael H. Fox

Boris Bernhardt @borismontreal.bsky.social · Aug 18

News from ENIGMA-Epilepsy! 🧠

Our latest study links polygenic risk for TLE-HS to cortical thinning in kids—mirroring patterns in adult patients.

Early imaging-genetics insights could reveal interplay of epilepsy risk and phenotypes before symptoms emerge.

Read more 👉 doi.org/10.1093/brai...

Reposted by Michael H. Fox, Alessandro Gozzi

Rodrigo Braga @rodbraga.bsky.social · Aug 5

🚨 New Preprint 🚨

Targeting intracranial electrical stimulation (ES) to network regions defined within individuals causes network-level effects

By Cyr et al.

***
Q: Can we use individualized network maps from precision fMRI to modulate a targeted network via intracranial ES?

A: Yes!

🧵:

Reposted by Michael H. Fox

Michael Okun @michaelokun.bsky.social · Jul 24

Can specialized physical therapy help you to live longer with Parkinson’s? What if physical therapy did more than improve balance and reduce falls? Specialized physical therapy, like that provided through the PDNet model linked to a modest but real reduction in mortality for people w/ Parkinson’s.

Michael Fox @foxmdphd.bsky.social · Jul 21

Is there a brain circuit target for restoring consciousness after brain injury? New work by @rolstonjohn.bsky.social @braincircuits.bsky.social says yes!

John Rolston @rolstonjohn.bsky.social · Jul 21

Just dropped in @natcomms.nature.com: we show that re-engaging a thalamic–ventral tegmental circuit with deep brain stimulation can reignite consciousness in patients with severe brain injury. Work led by Aaron Warren, with @andreashorn.org @foxmdphd.bsky.social @ others! tinyurl.com/4kz8j89b

A human brain network linked to restoration of consciousness after deep brain stimulation - Nature Communications

In people with severe brain injuries, stimulation restored consciousness by engaging a deep brain circuit for wakefulness—revealing a target that may also guide treatment in stroke and epilepsy.

Reposted by Michael H. Fox, Alessandro Gozzi

John Rolston @rolstonjohn.bsky.social · Jul 21

Just dropped in @natcomms.nature.com: we show that re-engaging a thalamic–ventral tegmental circuit with deep brain stimulation can reignite consciousness in patients with severe brain injury. Work led by Aaron Warren, with @andreashorn.org @foxmdphd.bsky.social @ others! tinyurl.com/4kz8j89b

A human brain network linked to restoration of consciousness after deep brain stimulation - Nature Communications

In people with severe brain injuries, stimulation restored consciousness by engaging a deep brain circuit for wakefulness—revealing a target that may also guide treatment in stroke and epilepsy.

Michael Fox @foxmdphd.bsky.social · Jul 21

Honored to highlight our work @braincircuits.bsky.social @massgenbrigham.bsky.social Neuro Research Day. Thank you @shansiddiqi.bsky.social @fredschaper.bsky.social Sheena Baratano and Sam Snider for sharing your experience.

Reposted by Michael H. Fox

Michael Okun @michaelokun.bsky.social · Jul 16

Can dogs really smell Parkinson’s? Spoiler alert: Yes. A new study by Rooney and colleagues in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease confirms what many people have long suspected. Dogs can be trained to detect Parkinson’s just by sniffing oily skin swabs. @parkinsondotorg.bsky.social #parkinson

Reposted by Michael H. Fox

Michael Okun @michaelokun.bsky.social · Jul 11

Can we rewire and recover from an eating disorder? We must understand the actual underlying brain circuits. A terrific review in Nature Reviews Neuroscience urges us all to rethink eating disorders, not just as psychological struggles, but rather as disorders of brain circuitry. #bingeeating

Reposted by Michael H. Fox

Michael Okun @michaelokun.bsky.social · Jun 27

Say cheese to detect Parkinson’s? Can AI see what doctors and healthcare providers miss? What if a simple smile could screen for Parkinson’s disease? A new study just published in NEJM AI shows that AI can potentially spot Parkinson’s simply by analyzing facial expressions. #parkinson