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Frederic Schaper

@fredschaper.bsky.social
663 followers 669 following 31 posts

Instructor in Neurology, MD PhD | Neuroscientist at @braincircuits.bsky.social at Brigham and Women’s Hospital of MGB, Harvard Medical School | I’m Interested in neuromodulation, brain networks, and epilepsy

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Reposted by Frederic Schaper
Michael Fox @foxmdphd.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
A recent paper in @natureportfolio.nature.com raised concerns about the lesion network mapping method. Our team of 16 coauthors analyzed >1000 lesions and 34 symptoms and found that "The methodological foundations of lesion network mapping remain sound" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
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Michael Fox @foxmdphd.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
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.
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Michael Fox @foxmdphd.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
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.
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Andreas Horn @andreashorn.org · 24/06/2025
Massive, Herculanean work by @laurenahart.bsky.social and Garance Meyer to compile and integrate findings from DBS for epilepsy (20 targets!) including meta-analytical evidence for optimal stimulation sites for the two main targets (ANT & CM). Preprint out now 👇👇
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Lauren Hart @laurenahart.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
🧠 ⚡️ Preprint alert ⚡️ 🧠 I️n the most comprehensive review of DBS in epilepsy, with 124 studies, 1,210 patients, and 20 anatomical targets we map where stimulation works best and why. Deep Brain Stimulation for Epilepsy: Optimal Targeting and Clinical Outcomes www.researchgate.net/publication/...
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Andreas Horn @andreashorn.org · 16/04/2025
Very hard to say goodbye to these fantastic people. I will miss you guys! @braincircuits.bsky.social!
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Bahne Bahners @bahnebahners.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
🚨 🥁 Preprint alert: The Deep Brain Stimulation Response Network in Parkinson’s Disease Operates in the High Beta Band ->> www.researchgate.net/publication/... <<--
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Isaiah Kletenik @isaiahneuro.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
How does early life adversity impact white matter brain connections and subsequent cognitive abilities? Adversity was associated with lower white matter integrity and later difficulty with arithmetic & receptive language yet interpersonal resilience was protective. www.pnas.org/doi/epub/10....
pnas.org
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Isaiah Kletenik @isaiahneuro.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
Was fun to do a podcast about our recent paper on creativity and brain disease with Dr Norman Swan @abcnewsbot.bsky.social @braincircuits.bsky.social @foxmdphd.bsky.social @harvardmed.bsky.social www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
abc.net.au
What brain damage tells us about creativity - ABC listen
Scientists have long been aware of a paradox of neurodegenerative disease – that as the brain deteriorates, in some patients creativity flourishes. Researchers have used imaging techniques to map cre...
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Thanks so much Barbara! Looking forward to your arrival here :)
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Hi thanks for your suggestion! Great point. Doing the analysis on one hemisphere did not change results and I agree it’s important to look into laterality when doing a lesion or coordinate analysis! ☺️
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Thank you so much!
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Anne Lipton, MD, PhD @annelipton.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Epic thread!🧵 #Neurology #NeuroSky #Epilepsy #Neuroscience
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Thanks!
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Laveena Singla @lsingla.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
An amazing read and what a concise thread !!
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Thank you!!
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Jim Thompson @jimthommo.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
This is amazing work!
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Michael Fox @foxmdphd.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Lesions causing epilepsy map to a brain circuit, but what about generalized epilepsy? Great new paper (and thread) by @fredschaper.bsky.social identifies this circuit with implications for #DBS. @braincircuits.bsky.social
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Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics @braincircuits.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
New @braincircuits.bsky.social paper out at @naturecomms.bsky.social 👇👇
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Andreas Horn @andreashorn.org · 24/03/2025
Fantastic new work by @fredschaper.bsky.social on mapping epilepsy onto brain networks! Congratulations Fred & team!
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Thanks so much Andy! ☺️
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Huge thank you to first author Gongjun Ji for leading this study, to @foxmdphd.bsky.social for his invaluable mentorship at @braincircuits.bsky.social, and all collaborators for their support and generous sharing of their data:
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
We then combined the networks of brain abnormalities in IGE with the CM DBS data and identified a convergent IGE network, which could represent a brain stimulation target to better control generalized seizures.
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
The thalamic peak in our IGE network even converged on the same MNI coordinate as a recently identified DBS sweet-spot for IGE, potentially suggesting an optimal DBS target based on connectivity of brain abnormalities in IGE.
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
We collected all published and unpublished IGE cases we could get our hands on (thank you collaborators!) and we found the leads nicely aligned with the peak in the IGE network. Patients had a median response rate of 90% (!), supporting the CM as an off label DBS target for generalized seizures.
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Digging deeper we found a thalamic peak of the IGE network in the centromedian nucleus of the thalamus, which is exactly the region where neurosurgeons place their DBS electrodes to treat generalized seizures!
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
My take: generalized seizures may 'hijack' (parts of) the SCAN resulting in the electroclinical expression of generalized seizures along intrinsic human brain networks leading to convulsions of the whole body or myoclonic jerks as well as loss of consciousness or absences.
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
YES! The IGE network beautifully aligned with the inter-effector regions and SCAN which is an evolutionary preserved integrated action and executive control system to coordinate gross movements, control muscle groups, posture, and internal physiology.
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
We saw an interleaved pattern over the motor cortex, which reminded us of @ndosenbach.bsky.social 's inter-effector regions and somatocognitive action network (SCAN). Could the IGE network share connections with the SCAN?
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
While it was encouraging to see the IGE network align with previous findings in IGE patients, something else quickly caught our eye...
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
This IGE network encompassed the regions identified in the ENIGMA study and was further validated by data from EEG-fMRI studies that show BOLD activation at the time of the generalized spike-wave in the positive functional connections of the IGE network.
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
We therefore computed the network connections of these brain abnormalities using the human connectome and identified an 'IGE network' involving the SMA, perirolandic cortex, thalamus, piriform cortex, frontal poles, superior temporal gyrus, precuneus, and cerebellum.
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
These brain abnormalities are scattered throughout the brain and, while the thalamus is the most consistently involved region in line with the ENIGMA study, only 17% of the coordinates fall within the thalamus. Could a wider brain network be involved?
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
We therefore collected all published coordinates of voxel-wise brain abnormalities associated with IGE and plotted them here:
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
We believed these brain abnormalities could give us crucial clues about where the generalized seizure starts or travels to in the brain. Think of pebbles that track a path the generalized seizure prefers to travel along...
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
However, the ENIGMA study by Whelan et al. and previous large neuroimaging studies in IGE have shown that subtle brain abnormalities can be detected compared to a healthy person's brain. academic.oup.com/brain/articl...
academic.oup.com
Structural brain abnormalities in the common epilepsies assessed in a worldwide ENIGMA study
Structural MRI abnormalities are inconsistently reported in epilepsy. In the largest neuroimaging study to date, Whelan et al. report robust structural alt
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) typically present with generalized spike wave discharges with 'normal' brain MRI, leaving the neuroanatomical basis of IGE unclear.
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Frederic Schaper @fredschaper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Is generalized epilepsy a seizure of the whole brain or a specific brain network? In our new paper out now in @naturecomms.bsky.social, we investigate this by combining brain abnormalities and DBS with the human connectome. Paper: nature.com/articles/s41... A 🧵 below:
nature.com
A generalized epilepsy network derived from brain abnormalities and deep brain stimulation - Nature Communications
Ji et al. identify an idiopathic generalised epilepsy network that links heterogeneously distributed brain abnormalities to a common brain network and deep brain stimulation sites which reduce general...
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Andreas Horn @andreashorn.org · 21/03/2025
Interested in an update on connectomic and adaptive deep brain stimulation for obsessive compulsive disorder? Take a look at our summary of this exciting field and how things could be brought together out now in BPS: www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S000... A brief 🧵
biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com
Deep Brain Stimulation response circuits in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
In the field of deep brain stimulation (DBS), two major themes are currently making significant progress. First, the framework of connectomic DBS, in which circuits that are associated with improvemen...
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Shan Siddiqi @shansiddiqi.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
Out now in Brain A distinct pattern of brain damage intensifies political involvement, regardless of whether you're liberal, conservative, Democrat, or Republican. With coauthors S.Balters,S. Cohen-Zimerman,G.Zamboni,J.Grafman academic.oup.com/brain/advanc... @braincircuits.bsky.social
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Michael Fox @foxmdphd.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
Can brain damage change your political opinions? “No significant neuroanatomical circuit was associated with political ideology or party affiliation, but a distinct circuit was associated with intensity of political involvement” Work by @shansiddiqi.bsky.social @braincircuits.bsky.social
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Andreas Horn @andreashorn.org · 07/03/2025
Boston strong 💪 #marchforscience
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Lead-DBS @lead-dbs.org · 02/03/2025
Ever wondered how well your Lead-DBS electrode localizations compare to expert solutions on the same data? Now, with Lead-Tutor, you can self-assess!
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Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · 01/03/2025
A study in Nature Medicine provides a comprehensive map of the contributions of environment and genetics to mortality and incidence of common age-related diseases, suggesting that the exposome shapes distinct patterns of disease and mortality risk. #Medsky 🧪
go.nature.com
Integrating the environmental and genetic architectures of aging and mortality - Nature Medicine
Based on a systematic analysis of environmental exposures associated with aging and mortality in the UK Biobank, the relative contributions of such exposures and genetic risk for mortality and a range of age-related diseases were compared, highlighting the potential beneficial effects of environment-focused interventions.
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Michael Okun @michaelokun.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
The 12th Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank Proceedings are out and free to download. Check out Nico Dosenbach as he brings us up to speed on changes in the way we are thinking about the somato-cognitive action network (SCAN) functional connectivity to subcortex.
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Nico Dosenbach @ndosenbach.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
www.frontiersin.org/journals/hum...
frontiersin.org
Frontiers | Proceedings of the 12th annual deep brain stimulation think tank: cutting edge technology meets novel applications
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ǝʞɐlq ǝʌɐp @blakestah.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
@andreashorn.org giving his Early Career Researcher Award Plenary lecture showing his imaging pipeline connectomics.
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Andrew Pines @andrewpines.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Super deserving of his award, @andreashorn.org identified specific tracts for specific diseases and even specific symptoms -> patient improvements in mx independent cohorts.
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