INS 13th World Congress Pre-Conference:
Noninvasive Brain Stimulation - May 27, 2017
The International Neuromodulation Society (INS) is pleased to announce its first pre-conference session on Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, which will take place on Saturday, 27 May 2017, immediately preceding the INS 13th World Congress, "Neuromodulation: Technology Changing Lives," at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
New to the congress this year will be a poster session at the pre-conference, and so we invite abstracts focusing only on Noninvasive Brain Stimulation. Abstract categories encompass basic science/neuroscience, neural engineering, socioeconomics, and existing clinical therapies as well as potential future technologies. All accepted abstracts will be published on the Society’s website and in the online version of the INS journal, Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface. The deadline to submit abstracts has now passed.
All abstracts submitted will be entered in the INS’s Best NIBS Abstract Competition, in which the top three abstracts will be recognized for their quality, originality and ingenuity in basic or clinical science or neural-engineering. Award recipients will be notified in advance, and will be recognized on stage during pre-conference on the 27th of May. In addition to this honor, the primary author recipients will be refunded the day’s registration fees.
Among the central challenges in advancing noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) as clinical treatment and experimental intervention are 1. incomplete knowledge of mechanisms, 2. lack of proof that targeted mechanisms are actually engaged and 3. a lack of surrogate measures for clinical outcomes. These closely related problems reduce the prior probability of hypotheses, prevent us from learning from “negative” studies, and make the multi-dimensional dosing parameter space daunting to explore. Biomarkers of target engagement and response are often required in drug trials and funding agencies are increasingly applying such criteria to device trials as well. This preconference session will feature mechanistic insights on NIBS and combinations of NIBS with fMRI, EEG, and other measurements of brain activity that provide biomarkers of target engagement and response.
By the end of the session, we will expect participants to be able to:
- Identify the reasons why well-understood mechanisms make the hypotheses of NIBS studies more likely to be true
- Define biomarkers of response and surrogate outcome measures recognize their usefulness in NIBS
- Define measures of target engagement and recognize their usefulness in research and clinical studies
- Apply these principles in their own work
Please consult the preliminary congress program for more details.
Please consider attending the rest of the Congress: a second pre-conference day on innovation and investment on 28 May, followed by a three-and-a-half day scientific program on 29 May – 1 June, 2017. In line with the Society’s multidisciplinary educational mission, the congress offers a unique opportunity for valuable interactions with peers who, collectively, focus on every aspect of neuromodulation.
We encourage you to register for the INS Congress and pre-conferences. Please note that INS members will receive a special discounted registration rate for the main congress, so now is the perfect opportunity to renew your membership or become a member of the INS.
We look forward to seeing you in Edinburgh!
Timothy Deer, M.D.
INS President and Congress Chair
Eric Wassermann, M.D.
Chair of the Preconference: Noninvasive Brain Stimulation
NIBS Abstract Instructions
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