Welcome from the Director

Martin Paulus, M.D.
President and Scientific Director

"Since arriving at LIBR in 2014, I have been enormously energized by the opportunity to make a real difference using neuroscience to improve the life of patients with mental illness. At the same time, I recognize this is a very challenging task, which cannot be accomplished overnight. However, with a thoughtful eye on what is doable, we are hoping to make a measureable impact on ways to assess and treat patients within five years.

We have started a major study at LIBR, the Tulsa 1000, or T-1000. The goal for this study is to determine whether neuroscience-based measures can be used to predict outcomes in patients with mental illness. In particular, we are trying to determine what factors best predict who will respond well to a particular treatment. The study is a definitive step towards developing a science-based personalized medicine approach in mental health. Unfortunately, mental health treatment providers are still using guesswork and intuition in matching treatments to patients. As a consequence mental health treatment is fundamentally a trial and error endeavor, which can result in prolonged suffering if treatments do not work. The hope is that we will be able to use scientific approaches to more precisely match patients to treatments."
Dr. Paulus Joins JAMA Psychiatry Editorial Board
Congratulations to Dr. Martin Paulus for being appointed to the Editorial Board of the top-ranked psychiatry journal, JAMA Psychiatry.
LIBR Awarded $11.3 Million Grant

LIBR has been awarded an $11.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to help researchers predict and treat mood and anxiety disorders.

Known as a Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (CoBRE) award, it is the largest grant awarded to the institute to date.

“This funding makes possible the collaborative advancement of mental health research for the benefit of all Oklahomans while also laying the groundwork for pivotal future funding in mental health science.” - Dr. Martin Paulus, Scientific Director and President

Meet the Investigators

Justin Feinstein, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

Research Program Highlights

Main Question
Can an intervention that enhances present moment awareness for internal bodily sensations help patients with anxiety establish a healthier balance between their body and brain?

Future Directions
Develop floatation as an intervention approach for different mental illnesses including anxiety, addiction, and anorexia.

​Approach
Uses floatation to help patients disconnect from the outside world and reconnect to signals coming from the inside of their body.  Waterproof and wireless physiological equipment will measure blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, movement, and EEG.  Functional neuroimaging will be used to determine where these changes take place inside the brain.

Dr. Feinstein joined the faculty of the Laureate Institute for Brain Research and the University of Tulsa in December of 2013, after completing his Ph.D. in Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Iowa, and his postdoctoral fellowship at the California Institute of Technology.  He earned his undergraduate degree in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego, and completed his clinical internship at the San Diego VA hospital with a focus on the treatment of veterans with PTSD using Prolonged Exposure therapy.  In May of 2015, construction of LIBR's Float Clinic and Research Center (FCRC) was completed.  The FCRC’s mission is to investigate the effects of Floatation-REST (Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy) on both the body and brain, as well as explore its potential as a therapeutic treatment for promoting mental health and healing in patients who suffer from anxiety.

What's New & Noteworthy

Interoception Special Issue Published in Biological Psychiatry: CNNI

In November 2016, LIBR organized the Interoception Summit, a first of its kind gathering of interoception experts from around the world. The primary output of this gathering is the white paper “Interoception and Mental Health: A Roadmap” published in the June 2018 Interoception special issue of Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. Several articles were contributed by LIBR investigators and highlight LIBR's growing impact on the interoception field.
​National News Coverage on Floatation by CBS This Morning

​An interview with Dr. Justin Feinstein and visit to the LIBR Float Clinic and Research Center was featured on CBS This Morning with co-host John Dickerson. He spoke with Dr. Feinstein about the floatation process and detailed his own personal experience.
Feinstein Lab Publishes Float Study in PLoS One

LIBR is excited to announce the PLoS One publication of the 1st float study ever conducted in patients suffering from both anxiety and depression. Dr. Justin Feinstein and colleagues showed that 1 hour of float therapy can provide significant short-term relief from symptoms of stress and anxiety, leaving patients in a peaceful and serene mental state. While the current study examined only the short-term effects of floating, studies are currently underway to evaluate the long-term benefits of floating after repeated practice.

William K. Warren Jr. "Frontiers in Neuroscience" Conferences Series

June 19th, 2018

Speaker: Jordan W. Smoller, MD, ScD, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health

Topic: Psychiatric Genomics and Phenomics

Location: Laureate Conference Center, 6655 South Yale Ave, Tulsa, OK 74136
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Time: 11:00-11:45 a.m. Lunch (registration required), 12:00-1 p.m. Presentation

To register for the event, email Lauren Haguewood at lehaguewood@saintfrancis.com
This event is free and open to the public.

Tulsa 1000 Update

In January 2015, LIBR launched the groundbreaking new Tulsa 1000 (T-1000) study. In our first year, we enrolled 164 of the 1000 participants. Currently, over 900 people have completed the baseline study and new participants are continuing to enroll each week. 

The T-1000 aims to determine how biological and objective behavioral measures can improve assessment and treatment of people with disorders of mood and anxiety, eating and substance use. 1000 people from Tulsa and the surrounding areas will be recruited to enter the study.

To learn more about participating in research at LIBR, please visit our Ongoing Studies section, call 918-502-5100, or email info@laureateinstitute.org.