Stimulating Brains

About Stimulating Brains

Andreas Horn interviews experts in the field of deep brain stimulation, noninvasive neuromodulation, functional brain imaging and neuroanatomy. Join us on our quest to interact with the human brain and thank you for your interest in science! Andreas Horn, M.D., Ph.D., directs the institute for network stimulation and is a professor for computational neurology at University Cologne.

Publisher

Andreas Horn

Category

science

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

24 May 2020

Latest episode

3 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

82 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   3 Aug 2026

   #82: Doris Wang – Adaptive DBS, the Rhythm of Walking, and Restoring Human Movement

   Doris D. Wang is an associate professor of neurological surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, a functional neurosurgeon specializing in movement disorders, and a systems neuroscientist studying how human brain circuits generate and restore movement. In this episode of Stimulating Brains, we focus on her new study in Nature Medicine. In five people with Parkinson’s disease, her team identified personalized brain signals associated with individual phases of walking and used them to adjust deep brain stimulation within fractions of a second. Three participants subsequently tested the fully implantable system at home in a blinded crossover study. We discuss why gait and balance remain difficult to treat even when DBS successfully controls tremor, rigidity, and bradykinesia; how falls and freezing may reflect different circuit problems; why useful neural signals differ between people and hemispheres; and what it means to synchronize stimulation with the moment-by-moment rhythm of walking. Doris also describes her path from developmental neuroscience to neurosurgery, the move from brief laboratory recordings to chronic brain sensing during everyday life, and the challenge of combining surgery, patient care, engineering, and human neurophysiology. We explore motor learning, focused ultrasound, patient agency, scientific collaboration, and whether future neuromodulation systems might do more than suppress pathological activity – perhaps restoring physiological dynamics at precisely the right moment.

2. 

   29 May 2026

   #81: Theodore Schwartz - Gray Matters: brain surgery from the inside, the history and the future of neurosurgery

   Theodore H. Schwartz is a neurosurgeon, author, and the David and Ursel Barnes Endowed Professor of Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery at Weill Cornell Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital. In this episode of Stimulating Brains, we talk about his book Gray Matters: A Biography of Brain Surgery, a vivid account of what brain surgery really is – personally, technically, historically, psychologically, and morally. We discuss what it actually feels like to be a neurosurgeon: the preparation before a difficult case, the pressure of thousands of micro-decisions, the responsibility for movement, language, memory, and personhood, and the question of when to enter the brain further and when to stop. We also talk about Ted's path from music and astrophysics toward neurosurgery, the culture of surgical training, trauma and gunshot wounds, the history of pioneers such as Cushing, Penfield, Dandy and others, as well as modern brain surgery, pituitary and skull-base surgery, awake mapping, aneurysms, epilepsy, psychosurgery and deep brain stimulation. We even wander toward consciousness, free will, brain-computer interfaces, and the future of less invasive and more computational neurosurgery. At the center of these more philosophical questions lies a deceptively simple question: what can brain surgery teach us about the brain, the self, and the stories we use to understand who we are?

3. 

   22 May 2026

   #80: Michael Okun - The Parkinson's Plan, prevention, care, and the future of Parkinson's disease

   In this episode of Stimulating Brains, I am delighted to welcome back Michael Okun, neurologist, movement-disorders specialist, Adelaide Lackner Distinguished Professor of Neurology at the University of Florida, Director of the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, and National Medical Advisor of the Parkinson's Foundation. Mike was previously on the podcast in episode 25 together with Kelly Foote. This time, we focus on his new book with Ray Dorsey, The Parkinson's Plan: A New Path to Prevention and Treatment. The book argues that Parkinson's disease should not only be treated after diagnosis, but also understood as a public-health challenge that demands prevention, better care models, patient advocacy, and policy. We talk about the PLAN framework: Prevent the disease, Learn why it begins, Amplify the voices of people affected, and Navigate the frontiers of treatment. We discuss environmental risk factors such as pesticides, solvents, dry-cleaning chemicals, air pollution, and paraquat; the idea that "prevention is not a pill, it is policy"; the Parkinson's 25 and the 0-10-100 by 2035 goal. We also talk about what a real care plan should look like for people living with Parkinson's today, including movement-disorder care, rehabilitation, mental health, caregiver support, exercise, speech and swallow therapy, sensors, and access to multidisciplinary teams. Since this is Stimulating Brains, we also return to deep brain stimulation and neuromodulation: where DBS fits into the broader Parkinson's Plan, what circuit-based therapies may still teach us, and how future treatments might connect prevention, biology, devices, genetics, and care.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.8 / 5

8 ratings

Spotify

4.9 / 5

38 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 28 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

36

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

51

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Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.