The Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR) is excited to announce the PLoS One publication of the 1st float study ever conducted in patients suffering from both anxiety and depression. 

This open-label trial from Dr. Justin Feinstein's Float Clinic and Research Center at LIBR in 50 patients provides an initial proof-of-principle study showing that 1-hour of float therapy can provide significant short-term relief from symptoms of stress and anxiety across a range of different conditions including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia, Social Anxiety Disorder, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder.  

More than resolving symptoms of mental illness, the experience greatly enhanced mental wellness, leaving patients in a peaceful serene state afterwards.  This mood-enhancing effect of floatation was especially notable given that most of the patients had comorbid depression. 

It is important to emphasize that this was an open-label study examining the short-term effects of floating.  We are now tracking the time course of these effects as well as studying whether or not there is evidence for long-term benefit following repeated practice.  

Dr. Joshua A. Gordon: February 20, 2018
"Challenges and Opportunities in Mental Health Research"

William K. Warren, Jr.  Frontiers in Neuroscience Lecture
Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital Conference Center
11:00am - 11:45 am    Registration and Lunch, lunch stops being served at 11:45 - no exceptions
12:00pm - 1:00pm     Program

Joshua A. Gordon, M.D., Ph.D. pursued a combined MD/PhD degree at the University of
California, San Francisco. Medical school coursework in psychiatry and neuroscience convinced
him that the greatest need, and greatest promise, for biomedical science was in these areas.
During his Ph.D. thesis with Dr. Michael Stryker, Dr. Gordon pioneered the methods necessary
to study brain plasticity in the mouse visual system.

Upon completion of the dual degree program at UCSF, Dr. Gordon went to Columbia University
for his Psychiatry residency and research fellowship because of the breadth and depth of the
research opportunities here. Working with Dr. Rene Hen, Dr. Gordon and colleagues studied the
role of the hippocampus, a brain structure known to be important for memory, in emotional
processes such as anxiety and depression. He joined the Columbia faculty in 2004 as an
Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry.

Dr. Gordon’s research focuses on the analysis of neural activity in mice carrying mutations of
relevance to psychiatric disease. His lab studies genetic models of these diseases from an
integrative neuroscience perspective, focused on understanding how a given disease mutation
leads to a behavioral phenotype across multiple levels of analysis. To this end, he employs a
range of systems neuroscience techniques, including in vivo anesthetized and awake behaving
recordings and optogenetics, which is the use of light to control neural activity. His work has
direct relevance to schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, and depression.

Three learning objectives:
 

1. Understand the role of the NIMH in supporting neuroscience and psychiatry research.
2. Understand how neural circuit approaches hold promises for advancing understanding and novel treatments for mental illnesses.
3. Understand how computational approaches hold promises for advancing understanding and novel treatments for mental illnesses.

To register, email:  Lauren Haguewood at lehaguewood@saintfrancis.com

​Mark Hyman Rapaport, M.D.:  February 6, 2018
"The Impact of Peripheral Inflammation on Mood: The Mind and the Body are Connected”

William K. Warren, Jr.  Frontiers in Neuroscience Lecture
Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital Conference Center
11:00am - 11:45 am    Registration and Lunch, lunch stops being served at 11:45 - no exceptions
12:00pm - 1:00pm     Program

Mark Hyman Rapaport, MD is the Reunette W. Harris Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.   Before coming to Emory, he was the Polier Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
​
A board-certified psychiatrist, Dr. Rapaport has written over 180 articles for such peer-reviewed publications as American Journal of Psychiatry, Biological Psychiatry, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry and Neuropsychopharmacology. He currently serves as Co-Editor and Chief of FOCUS: The Journal of Lifelong Learning in Psychiatry, published by American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc. and the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Rapaport is a member of the American College of Psychiatrists, American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology, Anxiety Disorders Association of America, the Psychiatric Research Society and the Collegium International Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP). He is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, the CINP, and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.  He is Past-President of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology and the current President of the American Association of Chairs of Departments of Psychiatry. 

Learning objectives:
 

1. Present the rationale for postulation that peripheral inflammation impacts basic function
   
2. Review data about the impact of inflammation on neurotransmission systems
3. Describe the state of current immune modulating therapies as treatments for depression
   
   

To register, email:  Lauren Haguewood at lehaguewood@saintfrancis.com

UPDATE: CANCELLED DUE TO GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

​David Goldman, M.D.:  January 23, 2018
"Genetics of Addiction:  How Many Genes?”

William K. Warren, Jr.  Frontiers in Neuroscience Lecture
Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital Conference Center
11:00am - 11:45 am    Registration and Lunch, lunch stops being served at 11:45 - no exceptions
12:00pm - 1:00pm     Program

Dr. David Goldman has been Chief of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics since 1991 and is Acting Clinical Director of NIAAA. Dr. Goldman graduated cum laude from Yale University and magna cum laude from the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston where he was also a Resident in Psychiatry. He joined NIAAA in 1979, was an NIMH Clinical Associate 1980-1984, and rejoined NIAAA in 1985. He is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He has won the NIH Director’s Award twice, and the James Isaacson Research Award of the International Society for Biological Research on Alcoholism.  Dr. Goldman is author of “Our Genes, Our Choices,” which won The British Medical Association top prize. Throughout his career, Dr. Goldman has focused on identifying genes that influence vulnerability to alcoholism, other addictions and other psychiatric diseases. He has authored over 400 papers, including several of the first “imaging genetics” studies in which genes were shown to alter brain function.  He and his group use genomic methods, including sequencing, genome wide association, epigenetic studies and gene-based measurement of ancestry. He has discovered inherited variants that alter molecular function and traced the effects of these variants through to complex behaviors in both humans and animal models. Several, for example a variant of catechol-O-methyltransferase, which he has named a “warrior/worrier gene” alters stress response and emotion but also cognition, and the gene effects are context-dependent and stronger on molecules and intermediate brain functions. Several of Dr. Goldman’s studies involve the use of well-defined founder populations, including Finland and Native American Indian communities. He discovered an HTR2B “to be or not to be” stop codon that can lead to severe impulsivity. This strongly functional variant of a neurotransmitter receptor is population specific, being common in Finns, and absent in others. Dr. Goldman’s studies have also taken advantage of the ability to control genetic and environmental factors in animal models, both for gene discovery and for validation of gene effects.

Learning objectives:
 

1. Understand heritability of addiction.                    
2. Define environmentality of addiction.
3. Know some genes influencing addictions.
   
   

To register, email:  Lauren Haguewood at lehaguewood@saintfrancis.com

The "Healthy Brains for a Healthy Oklahoma" lecture series on January 25th has been cancelled and will resume next month on February 22nd.

If you were looking forward to Dr. Sahib Khalsa's lecture, please visit our YouTube channel to view a past recording:

"When Food Rules the Brain"

​Pain is a common experience among human beings. It is estimated that more than 30% of Americans have some form of acute or chronic pain. The increase awareness of pain and its consequences has had some unfortunate consequences. In 2014 alone, U.S. retail pharmacies dispensed 245 million prescriptions for opioid pain relievers.

In this lecture Dr. Paulus will outline:
(1) How pain is generated?
(2) What brain and molecular processes contribute to the severity and intensity of pain?
(3) How opioids work and what the consequences are of long-term opioid use.
(4) Treatments for opioid addiction and alternative for pain management.

Alexander Bystritsky, M.D., Ph.D.: November 14th, 2017

"Low Intensity Focused Ultrasound Pulse:  A New Neuromodulation Technology.  Similarity and Differences with Other Neuromodulation Technologies”

William K. Warren, Jr.  Frontiers in Neuroscience Lecture
Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital Conference Center
11:00am - 11:45 am    Registration and Lunch, lunch stops being served at 11:45 - no exceptions
12:00pm - 1:00pm     Program

Professor Alexander Bystritsky, M.D., Ph.D. graduated from Pavlov Medical Institute (currently Pavlov Medical University) in St. Petersburg, Russia (former Soviet Union) with M.D. degree in 1977 and then his Ph.D. in Pharmacology in 1979.  In 1976 his paper won the Gold Medal for the Best Student Scientific Paper and Maria Petrova National Award in Neuroscience.
 
After he arrived to New York, he worked for one year as an Associate Researcher in the NYU Department of Psychiatry prior his admission to the NYU-Belleview residency program in Psychiatry. He completed his residency in 1985 and moved to UCLA as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar. Dr. Bystritsky has been on the UCLA Faculty since 1987. He is currently a Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences in Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles where he directs the Anxiety Disorders Program and Targeted Brain Stimulation Program. Dr. Bystritsky published over 240 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters and short publications and has served as the PI and Co-PI on several NIH, foundations and industry sponsored grants. Over the years, he earned several honors and awards including OCD Foundation Research Award and Brain and Behavior Distinguished Investigator Award. He is also listed in the Best Doctors in America for the last 20 years. For several years, he was a Visiting Professor and a collaborator with Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts investigating Focused Ultrasound Pulsation effects on brain using fMRI. He has authored several patents on image-guided neuromodulation of brain neurons using Low Intensity Focused Ultrasound Pulsation (LIFUP). His current area of interest is neuroimaging guided brain stimulation. He the director of collaborative Targeted Brain Stimulation clinical and research program on image-guided DBS, rTMS, LIFUP and other neuromodulation techniques in Anxiety Disorders with the department of Neurosurgery at UCLA. He is Executive Director of Tiny Blue Dot Foundation. He is Founder and CEO Brainsonix Corporation, a start-up company producing LIFUP/MR compatible devices for research.

Learning objectives:

1.  Inform the learners about different neuromodulation techniques.
2.  Discuss similarity and differences with LIFUP.
3.  Discuss historical development of the LIPUP.
 
REGISTER TO ATTEND!
 
To register, email:  Lauren Haguewood at lehaguewood@saintfrancis.com

Dr. Justin Feinstein's talk will discuss float therapy, a brand new treatment for naturally reducing levels of stress and anxiety.  The presentation will provide an overview of this novel therapy, how it works, and how it can help individuals who suffer from stress and anxiety.

Justin Feinstein is a Clinical Neuropsychologist at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research and an Assistant Professor at the new Oxley College of Health Sciences at the University of Tulsa.  He received his PhD from the University of Iowa and completed his postdoctoral training at the California Institute of Technology.  His research examines how the human brain produces primal states of emotion, with an emphasis on the neuroscience of fear and treatments that alleviate anxiety.  His work has been published in a number of top scientific journals and has been featured in the popular press including the New York Times, TIME magazine, NPR, and New Scientist.  

​Dr. Feinstein serves as Director of the Float Clinic and Research Center (FCRC) at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research. The FCRC’s mission is to investigate the effects of floatation on both the body and the brain, as well as explore its potential as a therapeutic treatment for promoting mental health and healing in patients who suffer from anxiety.

 Gary Glover, Ph.D.: October 10th, 2017
"Neuromodulation and fMRI”

William K. Warren, Jr.  Frontiers in Neuroscience Lecture
Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital Conference Center
11:00am - 11:45 am    Registration and Lunch, lunch stops being served at 11:45 - no exceptions
12:00pm - 1:00pm     Program

Dr. Glover is Professor of Radiology, Biophysics and Neurosciences, Electrical Engineering and Psychology (by courtesy), and is Director of Radiological Sciences Laboratory (RSL) in the Department of Radiology as well as the Richard M. Lucas Center for Imaging.  He has extensive experience in virtually all aspects of diagnostic medical imaging dating back to 1975, and has been a pioneer in developing novel magnetic resonance imaging techniques for nearly 30 years and fMRI methods since 1992.  His group has pioneered the use of spiral k-space methods for fMRI and contributes to development of both acquisition and analysis technology in use by many investigators.  As director of the Lucas Center, Dr. Glover works with many scientists and their students in performing fMRI experiments and has vast experience in a broad field of cognitive neuroscience, but with particular emphasis on neuroimaging acquisition methods.  He mentors five of his own students and post docs as well as approximately 10 other students and junior faculty for whom he a secondary advisor, thesis reader or research consultant. 

Learning objectives:

1.  Discuss how Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Transcranial Electrical Stimulation can affect brain function.
2.  Identify ways to monitor the stimulation sites.
3.  Learn how to apply this technology for basic and clinical applications.
 
REGISTER TO ATTEND!
 
To register, email:  Lauren Haguewood at lehaguewood@saintfrancis.com
​

 Leanne Williams, Ph.D.: August 8th, 2017
"Neuroscience Informed Precision Psychiatry”

William K. Warren, Jr.  Frontiers in Neuroscience Lecture
Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital Conference Center
11:00am - 11:45 am    Registration and Lunch, lunch stops being served at 11:45 - no exceptions
12:00pm - 1:00pm     Program

Dr. Williams is changing the way we understand and treat mental disorders. She is developing a model for Neuroscience Informed Precision Mental Health for understanding mental disorders as disruptions in brain circuits that govern emotional and cognitive functions. The goal is to use this model to accelerate the  translation of neuroscience insights into better diagnosis and treatment choices that are tailored to each person. After first graduating, Dr. Williams worked with patients experiencing serious mental disorders and who had been hospitalized for many years. This experience transformed the trajectory of her career. She went on to complete her PhD in 1996 with a British Council scholarship for study at Oxford University.
​
Dr. Williams develops Neuroscience Informed Precision Mental Health as a Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and as Director of her interdisciplinary lab, the “PanLab”.  She also leads department-wide initiatives in Precision Psychiatry as Associate Chair of Research Strategy and as the Chair of the major labs focused on clinical translational neuroscience. She has a joint position at the Palo Alto VA where she is Director of education and dissemination, focused on traumatic stress. 
Dr. Williams first came to Stanford as a visiting Professor in 2011. At that time she was leading a multi-site international study to identify brain biomarkers for depression and antidepressant response.  She was thrilled to join the Stanford faculty in 2013. Prior to this time she was foundation Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry at the Sydney Medical School and Director of the interdisciplinary Sydney Brain Dynamics Center for 12 years. Her scholarly contributions to the field include over 250 peer-reviewed publications. 

Learning points:
An introduction to key principles for one approach to developing a neuroscience-informed psychiatry model

1. Learn about brain imaging findings that may inform treatment decisions for depression
2. Learn about genetic and environmental predictors of treatment outcomes for depression
   
   

REGISTER TO ATTEND!
 To register, email:  Lauren Haguewood at lehaguewood@saintfrancis.com                           

Tor D. Wager, Ph.D.: June 6th, 2017
"Reproducible, Generalizable Brain Models of Affective Processes”

William K. Warren, Jr.  Frontiers in Neuroscience Lecture
Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital Conference Center
11:00am - 11:45 am    Registration and Lunch, lunch stops being served at 11:45 - no exceptions
12:00pm - 1:00pm     Program

Dr. Wager is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and a faculty member in the Institute for Cognitive Science at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He received his
Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in cognitive psychology in 2003, and served as an Assistant and Associate Professor at Columbia University from 2004-2009. Since
2010, he has directed Boulder’s Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience laboratory. He has a deep interest in how thinking influences affective experiences, affective learning,
and brain-body communication. His laboratory also focuses on the development and deployment of analytic methods, and has developed several publically available
software toolboxes for fMRI analysis.
 
Learning points:
 
1. Understand how pain and emotions are represented in the brain.
2. Examine the role of scientific transparency and reproducibility in modern brain scanning experiments.
3. Differentiate between pain and emotional networks in the brain.
 
REGISTER TO ATTEND!
 
To register, email:  Lauren Haguewood at lehaguewood@saintfrancis.com

​Each hemisphere of the brain performs special functions that allows the brain as a whole to work more efficiently.  How do these two halves work as a whole? What are patterns of right brain and left brain functions?  How did these functions evolve through time and within individuals?  What relevance does handedness have on mental illness?  In this talk, we will explore lateralization of human brain function and how the balancing of specialized components makes a healthy whole.

Dr. Yoon-Hee Cha is a neurologist who earned her medical degree from Mayo Medical School. While at the University of California-Los Angeles, she developed an interest in using functional MRI, EEG, and neuromodulation techniques to study and treat disorders of motion perception.  She joined LIBR in August 2012.  Her current work focuses on a group of patients with mal de debarquement syndrome (MdDS) as well as disorders of spatial processing related to anxiety and migraine. 

 John H. Krystal, M.D.
"Glutamate Synaptic Dysfunction in Schizophrenia:  Microcircuits, Macrocircuits, and Novel Therapeutics”
​
Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital Conference Center
9:00am - 9:45 am    Registration and Breakfast, breakfast stops being served at 9:45 - no exceptions
10:00am - 11:00am     Program

Dr. Krystal is the Robert L. McNeil, Jr., Professor of Translational Research, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry, and Professor of Neuroscience at the Yale University School of Medicine and Chief of Psychiatry at Yale-New Haven Hospital.  He is a graduate of the University of Chicago, Yale University School of Medicine, and the Yale Psychiatry Residency Training Program.  He has published extensively on the neurobiology and treatment of schizophrenia, alcoholism, PTSD, and depression. Notably, he led the discovery of the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine in humans. He is the Director of the NIAAA Center for the Translational Neuroscience of Alcoholism and the Clinical Neuroscience Division of the VA National Center for PTSD. Dr. Krystal is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine. Currently, he is president of the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP), a member of the NIMH National Mental Health Advisory Council, and editor of Biological Psychiatry (IF=11.212).

Learning points:
 
1. To introduce glutamate synaptic dysfunction in schizophrenia
2. To describe evidence for disinhibited/hyperconnected and atrophic phases of schizophrenia
3. To consider the implications of these pathophysiologic hypotheses for glutarnatergic pharmacotherapies for schizophrenia

REGISTER TO ATTEND!
 
To register, email:  Lauren Haguewood at lehaguewood@saintfrancis.com

​The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study is the largest (with a planned enrollment of 11,000 individuals ages 9-10) longitudinal study of its kind ever conducted.  The recruitment for this 23-site study started in September of 2016; so far approximately 1400 participants age 9-10 have been enrolled in the study.  The Coordinating Site has released some initial data to the participating sites for preliminary analyses.  LIBR will present some very basic characterization of the participants in comparison to the other ABCD sites.  The presentation will have a particular emphasis on gaming and internet activities.  This will include a review of what is known about the influence of gaming on the brain and brain development.  We also welcome questions from the audience during and after the presentation.

"Immune Activation in Psychiatric Disorders”

William K. Warren, Jr.  Frontiers in Neuroscience Lecture
Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital Conference Center
11:00am - 11:45 pm    Registration and Lunch, lunch stops being served at 11:45 - no exceptions
12:00pm - 1:00 pm     Program

Dr. Yolken is the Theodore and Vada Stanley Distinguished Professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.  He chairs the Stanley Division of Developmental Neurovirology, the nation's first pediatric research center designed to investigate links between early childhood infections and severe mental illness including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, and autism.  His research group is investigating whether these disorders can be associated with prior exposure to viral triggers such as herpesviruses and influenza viruses as well as eukaryotic organisms such as Candida albicans and the Toxoplasms gondii.  Their research indicates that antimicrobial and anti-flammatory medications have the potential to treat or prevent serious psychiatric disorders in some individuals.

Dr. Yolken attended Harvard College and Harvard Medical School and received post-doctoral training at Cornell University and the National Institutes of Health.  He has over 480 published peer-reviewed articles and numerous book chapters and presentations at scientific meetings.
 
Learning points:
 
1. Understand immune activation in psychiatric disorders
2. Recognize risk factors
3. Recognize opportunities for intervention
 
REGISTER TO ATTEND!
 
To register, email:  Lauren Haguewood at lehaguewood@saintfrancis.com

​Florence Breslin will present an overview of adolescent drug and alcohol use and abuse around the country and here in Oklahoma. The key themes of the talk are: (a) the real statistics of use to reduce the “not my child” ideology, (b) the effects of use on the developing brain, and (c) how to talk to your child about why to avoid drugs and alcohol.
 
Ms. Breslin is the Child and Adolescent Clinical Assessment Manager at LIBR.  She studied biology and genetics at Niagara University and obtained her Masters in biology and addiction at the University of Virginia.  Ms. Breslin is a Certified Clinical Research Professional with publications in genetics, pre-clinical addiction and neuroimaging.  In January of 2015, Ms. Breslin joined LIBR as the study coordinator for the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, a landmark nation-wide study of adolescent brain development funded by the National Institutes of Health.