Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · 10d

Thank you! Great question – it seems that global infraslow dynamics continue during transitional states for sleep and anesthesia (i.e., where you see these spatial maps persisting). Some interesting perspectives on this: doi.org/10.1016/j.co... doi.org/10.1016/j.ne... doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · 13d

Super proud of this collaboration with rockstar Ryan Raut - born out of playing in the sandbox in our last year of grad school! Multi-scale brain activity can be predicted from a simple measure of arousal like pupil diameter. Out with linear causality, in with dynamic systems to explain neurobiology

Arousal as a universal embedding for spatiotemporal brain dynamics - Nature

Reframing of arousal as a latent dynamical system can reconstruct multidimensional measurements of large-scale spatiotemporal brain dynamics on the timescale of seconds in mice.

www.nature.com

3 22 77

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · Aug 6

WOW this is the honor of a lifetime, Vienna (Airport Conference Center) here I come!

1

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · Jul 12

Toward a Better Understanding of Electroconvulsive Therapy | Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/deny...

Toward a Better Understanding of Electroconvulsive Therapy

When we don't understand how something works, we often fear it. That has been the case with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), but new research may be shedding needed light.

www.psychologytoday.com

1

Reposted by Zach Rosenthal

Baller Lab @ballerlab.bsky.social · Jun 3

The Baller Lab is thrilled to announce that @elenaccooper.bsky.social just had her first first-author publication! “Investigating mood and cognition in people with multiple sclerosis: a prospective cross-sectional study protocol” is now published on BMJ Open: bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/5/e094733! 🧠

Investigating mood and cognition in people with multiple sclerosis: a prospective cross-sectional study protocol

Introduction Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated neurological disorder that affects one million people in the USA. Up to 50% of patients with MS experience depression, yet the mechanisms of ...

bmjopen.bmj.com

2 11 24

Reposted by Zach Rosenthal

Ferric Fang, MD @fangferric.bsky.social · May 29

Two Harvard economists forecast the impact of the administration’s proposed NIH budget cuts- stunning losses in new therapies, life expectancy, and economic output with a “social cost 16 times greater than the savings the administration is attempting to achieve."

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Cutting the NIH—The $8 Trillion Health Care Catastrophe

This JAMA Forum discusses the recent budget cuts to National Institutes of Health (NIH), the effects of these cuts on scientific research and health of individuals in the US, and the prospects for cha...

jamanetwork.com

2 150 210

Reposted by Zach Rosenthal

Science X / Phys.org @sciencex.bsky.social · May 29

New evidence shows electroconvulsive therapy triggers a brain event called cortical spreading depolarization, challenging previous assumptions about how ECT achieves its therapeutic effects. doi.org/g9mnvt

Electroconvulsive therapy's 'hard reset' effect: Brain wave discovery challenges long-held assumption

During his third-year psychiatry clerkship as a medical student, Zach Rosenthal, MD, Ph.D., was part of a team providing care to a young man with schizophrenia and severe catatonia.

medicalxpress.com

2 3

Reposted by Zach Rosenthal

Cathy Gao-Howard MD MS @catgaohow.bsky.social · May 18

Northwestern has not received any NIH funds since March. No written communication about why or what can be done. Thank you Ben Singer for raising awareness at #ATS2025

18 610 1.5K

Reposted by Zach Rosenthal

@LaBonneLaB @labonnelab.bsky.social · May 19

It is beyond disturbing when the NIH and HHS Directors do not understand that animal models are essential in research

www.statnews.com/2025/05/19/a...

There is no replacement (yet) for animal models in medical research

The NIH is “reducing animal use in research.” But there is no replacement for animal models.

www.statnews.com

1 50 120

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · May 18

Takeaway: We have been missing a huge brain event during ECT. Further research can help us learn more to optimize stimulation and outcomes for this life-saving treatment. If CSD proves central to the mechanism of ECT, we could develop novel brain stimulation therapies that don’t require seizure!

3

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · May 18

ECT can cause side effects, most often temporary memory issues. As with any treatment, we discuss this risk with patients and weigh against potential benefits, so that patients can make informed decisions. We are now testing if memory effects might also be modulated by spreading depolarization.

1 1

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · May 18

ECT is stigmatized and misrepresented in popular media and by anti-psychiatry activists. The reality is ECT is not painful, violent, or a form of punishment. Patients are asleep and immobilized with general anesthesia during the seizure. There is no evidence that ECT causes ‘brain damage’.

1 1

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · May 18

We are now testing if CSD mediates the clinical effects of ECT. This hypothesis could explain:
- why seizure intensity predicts therapeutic effects
- why stimulation parameters modulate outcomes
- why ECT is inhibitory and raises seizure thresholds (CSD is an intrinsic anti-seizure mechanism)

1 1

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · May 18

We then showed that CSD waves also occur in routine ECT treatments in human patients. This required a novel tool – bedside, non-invasive optical monitoring of brain hemodynamics – developed by our colleagues in the Penn Physics dept!

1 1

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · May 18

Clinically, ECT stimulation parameters are known to modulate outcomes. Here, we found that electrode placement shapes where seizure is most intense and where CSD is triggered. Increasing pulse current and frequency increase seizure amplitude, which in turn predicts the likelihood of triggering CSD.

1 2

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · May 18

Why has this gone undetected for nearly 86 years? CSD wavefronts travel very slowly (millimeters per minute), such that when they are subjected to routine low frequency EEG filtering (our mainstay tool for brain monitoring during ECT), they’re rendered virtually invisible (right video panel).

1 1

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · May 18

In a mouse model, we observed that seizure is followed by a slow-traveling wave of maximal neural and hemodynamic activation followed by suppression, consistent with cortical spreading depolarization (CSD). Only high amplitude seizures cross the threshold of triggering this all-or-none event.

1 2

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · May 18

ECT remains the most effective treatment for severe, medication-resistant depression, achieving rapid remission in 60-80% of patients. It also works for psychosis, mania, catatonia, and more, when other treatments have failed. Why electrically-induced seizure is therapeutic has remained a mystery.

1 2

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · May 18

Hot off the press! We found that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) induces a previously undescribed, second brain event after seizure, called cortical spreading depolarization (CSD), using optical neuroimaging in both a mouse model to human patients. 🧵 below!

doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Electroconvulsive therapy generates a postictal wave of spreading depolarization in mice and humans - Nature Communications

The underlying mechanism of electroconvulsive therapy remains not fully understood. Here, the authors use optical neuroimaging in mice and humans to show that electroconvulsive therapy elicits a secon...

doi.org

3 11 25

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · May 18

Takeaway: We have been overlooking a huge brain event during ECT due to understudy. Research can help us optimize stimulation and outcomes for this life-saving treatment. If CSD proves central to the mechanism of ECT, we could develop novel brain stimulation therapies that don’t require seizure!

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · May 18

ECT can cause side effects, most often temporary memory issues. As with any treatment, we discuss this risk with patients and weigh against potential benefits, so that patients can make informed decisions. We are now testing if memory effects might also be modulated by spreading depolarization.

1

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · May 18

ECT is stigmatized and misrepresented in popular media and by anti-psychiatry activists. The reality is ECT is not painful, violent, or a form of punishment. Patients are asleep and immobilized with general anesthesia during the seizure. There is no evidence that ECT causes ‘brain damage’.

1

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · May 18

We are now testing if CSD mediates the clinical effects of ECT. This hypothesis could explain:
- why seizure intensity predicts therapeutic effects
- why stimulation parameters modulate outcomes
- why ECT is inhibitory and raises seizure thresholds (CSD is an intrinsic anti-seizure mechanism)

1

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · May 18

We then showed that CSD waves also occur in routine ECT treatments in human patients. This required a novel tool – bedside, non-invasive optical monitoring of brain hemodynamics – developed by our colleagues in the Penn Physics dept!

1

Zach Rosenthal @zachrosenthal.bsky.social · May 18

Clinically, ECT stimulation parameters are known to modulate outcomes. Here, we found that electrode placement shapes where seizure is most intense and where CSD is triggered. Increasing pulse current and frequency increase seizure amplitude, which in turn predicts the likelihood of triggering CSD.

1 1