Helen S. Mayberg

Helen S. Mayberg was born in 1956 in California. She is an American neurologist. Dr. Mayberg is known in particular for her work delineating abnormal brain function in patients with clinical depression using functional neuroimaging. This work led to the first pilot study of deep brain stimulation (DBS), a reversible method of selective modulation of a specific brain circuit, for patients with treatment-resistant depression.

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Biography

She obtained her M.D. from the University of Southern California in 1981. She specialized in neurology, completing her residency training at Columbia University’s Neurological Institute in New York City from 1982 through 1985. She then completed a research fellowship at Johns Hopkins University’s PET facility from 1985 to 1987.^[1] Dr. Helen S. Mayberg is a professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She is also affiliated with Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Centre and the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ^[2]

Dr. Mayberg's work

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is one of a group of treatments involving surgical implantation of a medical device called a brain pacemaker, which sends electrical impulses to specific parts of the brain. This surgical procedure is used to treat severe essential tremor and the tremor, rigidity and bradykinesia (slow movement) associated with Parkinson's disease, as well as dystonia and other conditions. In March 2005, the results of a Canadian study performed by doctors from the University of Toronto (including Dr. Mayberg) were published indicating that DBS of Brodmann area 25 may also alleviate symptoms in patients suffering from treatment-resistant clinical depression.^[3]

Awards and nominations

• NARSAD Mental Health Research Association - Distinguished Investigator Award Recipient (2002)

Disclosures

Her disclosed grant supports include: the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Depression. She has served as a consultant for Advanced Neuromodulation Systems on deep brain stimulation.

Notes and references