Hanse Lectures in Neurosciences mit Prof. Dr. Dirk de Ridder

Prof. Dr. Dirk De Ridder from the Brain Health Research Center, University of Otago (Dunedin, New Zealand) talks about: "Brain implants for phantom perception: past, present and future" Professor de Ridder is an expert on neurosurgery, neuromodulation, and tinnitus and he will talk about phantom preceptions - like tinnitus - and how deep brain stimulation by implants can help.

Abstract: Recently, both basic and clinical research has focused on the brain's involvement in the generation of phantom pain and phantom sound aka tinnitus. Non-pulsatile tinnitus can be considered an auditory phantom phenomenon, analogous to phantom pain, both with regards to pathophysiological mechanisms, clinical characteristics, and treatment approaches. Thalamocortical dysrhythmia has been proposed as a common neurophysiological mechanism underlying pain and tinnitus. Thus, the understanding of tinnitus has benefited a lot from translating available knowledge of the somatosensory (pain) system to the auditory system. In the past only destructive approaches were used, consisting of lesions of the peripheral and central nervous system. Presently, neurostimulation trials are preferred due to their reversibility. In tinnitus, auditory cortex stimulation, frontal cortex stimulation, thalamic (VIM) and caudate stimulation as well as amygdalohippocampal stimulation have been performed, yielding suppression rates between 10 and 70%. Further potentially promising targets can be proposed based on the better understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms involved in pain and tinnitus and will benefit from interdisciplinary collaboration between pain and tinnitus specialists.
Lecture and discussion from 6:00 pm until approximately 7:00 pm followed by dinner and informal discussion in the HWK Bistro. The lecture is open to everybody, but registration is required for this event (by replying to mdaniel@h-w-k.de )