News

New episode of the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute podcast!

Host Nicholas Weiler talks with Corey Keller, MD, PhD, about transcranial magnetic stimulation and where the field is headed, including a segment on Dr. Ross' work synchronizing TMS to musical rhythms (seTMS) and the effects on cortical excitability and plasticity.

Episode title: Transcranial magnetic stimulation and the future of psychiatry

Podcast: From Our Neurons to Yours

Published by: Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University

Samantha Gray will have a poster at the 2026 NYC Neuromodulation Conference in New York, NY on July 30 - August 3!

Her work uses intracranial EEG from neurosurgical patients to show that high frequency broadband power in the superior temporal gyrus tracks auditory prediction and sensory processing during music listening, and that cortico-cortical evoked potentials from the STG predict task-evoked changes in that activity across motor and affective networks.

Poster title: Auditory Cortex Cortico-Cortical Connectivity Correlates with Neural Entrainment to Music Across Motor and Affective Brain Networks
Date: July 30 - August 3, 2026
Event: 2026 NYC Neuromodulation Conference

Rafael Seifu-Schmeing will have a poster at the 2026 NYC Neuromodulation Conference in New York, NY on July 30 - August 3!

His work presents a semi-automated EEG preprocessing pipeline optimized for sensory-entrained TMS (seTMS) data, incorporating two-stage ICA, multi-step TMS pulse artifact removal, and filtering tailored to support spectral and TMS-evoked potential analyses.

Poster title: Preprocessing Pipeline Optimization for Sensory-Entrained Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (seTMS)
Date: July 30 - August 3, 2026
Event: 2026 NYC Neuromodulation Conference

Maercio Maia and Aada Kekäläinen will be presenting a poster at the 12th Science Factory in Espoo, Finland on May 23-28! 

Their work investigates the precise timing of seTMS pulses relative to musical beats, finding that the effects on motor excitability are timing-dependent and correlate with alpha-band inter-trial coherence.

Poster title: Music-Induced Modulation of Corticospinal Excitability Depends on Timing Relative to the Beat

Date: May 23-28, 2026

Event: 12th Science Factory: TMS-EEG Summer School and Workshop

Our research on sensory-entrained TMS was recently highlighted by the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute! 

The article covers our finding that timing TMS pulses to musical rhythm can more than double their effect on motor cortex excitability, and explores what this could mean for future psychiatric applications.

Article title: Groove is in the brain: Music supercharges brain stimulation

Published by: Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University