"Electrophysiology of Movement Disorders"

Svjetlana Miocinovic, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Neurology
Emory University

Deep brain stimulation is an established therapy for movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease and dystonia, and it is emerging as therapy for many other neuropsychiatric disorders. However, its mechanisms of action are still poorly understood which limits our ability to develop next generation of neurostimulators and expand its use. Studying patients undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery gives us a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of human motor system and the basal
ganglia-thalamo-cortical circuits. In this talk we will discuss invasive and non-invasive electrophysiologic studies in Parkinson's disease and dystonia, our current understanding of DBS mechanisms, and new therapeutic approaches.

This presentation can be seen via videoconference on the Emory Campus HSRB E160

Bio-sketch

Svjetlana Miocinovic is a board-certified neurologist specializing in Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, tremor and other movement disorders. She graduated from medical school in 2009 at Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio) where she also obtained a PhD in biomedical engineering. She completed neurology residency and clinical movement disorders fellowship at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas, Texas). Her post-doctoral training and clinical research fellowship was at the University of California San Francisco Movement Disorder and Neuromodulation Center. She was awarded American Brain Foundation and Dystonia Medical Research Foundation grants to study electrophysiology of movement disorders and effects of deep brain stimulation (DBS) on the basal ganglia and cortical circuitry. In 2016, she moved to Emory to become an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology, Movement Disorders Section. She received NIH K23 grant to study targeted activation of neural pathways during DBS in Parkinson’s disease. The research focus is on electrophysiology of human motor circuits, and development of new device-based therapies. Her clinical focus is on delivering expert patient care and using DBS to treat movement disorders.