Research
Advancing brain treatment through science.
Research is a cornerstone of BrainStim. We combine established TMS research with individualized brain targeting, neurosurgeon oversight and objective assessments, to inform each treatment and evaluate progress. We also run research of our own.
Research at BrainStim
- The science of precisionMRI-guided targeting and real-time neuro-navigation, guiding each pulse to the point planned on your own brain.
- How we measure outcomesBefore, during and after treatment, against your own starting point.
- Published researchStudies and reviews on TMS, brainwave mapping (EEG) and the conditions we treat.
- Research and innovationOur own research and clinical collaborations, including a study now under way in Lancaster.
Now under way
Our study in Lancaster
At our Lancaster clinic, in partnership with Tarzana Treatment Centers, we’re running a research study of TMS for people recovering from methamphetamine use.
There’s no FDA-approved medicine for methamphetamine addiction, and care relies mainly on counseling and behavioral therapy. The study looks at whether TMS can help people in recovery, alongside their treatment program.
This is research: TMS isn’t FDA-cleared for methamphetamine addiction, and the study is still running. We’ll share early findings here once they’ve been reviewed.
How we measure outcomes
Progress should be something you can see. We measure each course of treatment against your own starting point.
- Before treatment
Standard questionnaires put your symptoms on record, such as the PHQ-9 for depression, the GAD-7 for anxiety and the PCL-5 for PTSD. Where it helps, a qEEG records how your brain is working.
- During treatment
The same questionnaires are asked again as you go, so your care team can see what’s changing and adjust your plan with you.
- At the end, and after
You and your care team compare where you finished with where you began. Where it helps, your qEEG is recorded again, and we follow up after your course ends.
Results vary from person to person, and measuring change doesn’t guarantee it. It does mean you can see for yourself what has changed. How your care comes together
Published studies by condition
Studies and reviews on TMS, brainwave mapping (EEG), imaging (MRI and DTI) and the conditions we treat, so you can read the science for yourself. Apart from Dr. Liker’s own papers, they aren’t BrainStim’s own results, a study’s findings aren’t a promise of how treatment will go for you, and some of the uses studied are off-label.
Depression
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for major depression: a multisite, naturalistic, observational study of acute treatment outcomes in clinical practiceCarpenter et al., 2012 · Depression and AnxietyRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- Prefrontal transcranial magnetic stimulation for depression in US military veterans: a naturalistic cohort study in the Veterans Health AdministrationMadore et al., 2022 · Journal of Affective DisordersRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- The relationship between brain oscillatory activity and therapeutic effectiveness of transcranial magnetic stimulation in the treatment of major depressive disorderLeuchter et al., 2013 · Frontiers in Human NeuroscienceRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- Composition of brain oscillations in ongoing EEG during major depression disorderFingelkurts et al., 2006 · Neuroscience ResearchRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- Evaluation of outcomes with citalopram for depression using measurement-based care in STAR*D: implications for clinical practiceTrivedi et al., 2006 · American Journal of PsychiatryRead the study (opens in a new tab)
Anxiety
These studies look at brainwave (EEG) patterns in anxiety. They don’t test TMS as a treatment.
- EEG correlates of different types of anxiety in 14- to 15-year-old teenagersEismont et al., 2008 · NeurophysiologyRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- Electroencephalogram abnormalities in panic disorder patients: a study of symptom characteristics and pathologyHayashi et al., 2010 · BioPsychoSocial MedicineRead the study (opens in a new tab)
OCD
PTSD
- Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in posttraumatic stress disorder: a double-blind, placebo-controlled studyCohen et al., 2004 · American Journal of PsychiatryRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- Low-frequency, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for the treatment of patients with posttraumatic stress disorder: a double-blind, sham-controlled studyNam et al., 2013 · Clinical Psychopharmacology and NeuroscienceRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- The quantitative electroencephalogram and the low-resolution electrical tomographic analysis in posttraumatic stress disorderTodder et al., 2012 · Clinical EEG and NeuroscienceRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- Magnetic resonance therapy improves clinical phenotype and EEG alpha power in posttraumatic stress disorderTaghva et al., 2015 · Trauma MonthlyRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for chronic pain, PTSD, TBI, opioid addiction and sexual trauma: an evidence briefAnderson et al., 2020 · VA Evidence Synthesis ProgramRead the brief (opens in a new tab)
Brain injury and concussion
- Neuromodulation treatments for mild traumatic brain injury and post-concussive symptomsMollica et al., 2022 · Current Neurology and Neuroscience ReportsRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- Longitudinal study of postconcussion syndrome: not everyone recoversHiploylee et al., 2017 · Journal of NeurotraumaRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- Traumatic brain injury: an EEG point of viewIanof and Anghinah, 2017 · Dementia & NeuropsychologiaRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- Electroencephalography and mild traumatic brain injuryThatcher, 2006 · Foundations of Sport-Related Brain Injuries (book chapter)Read the chapter (opens in a new tab)
Autism
These studies look at brainwave (EEG) patterns in autism. They don’t test TMS as a treatment.
- EEG complexity as a biomarker for autism spectrum disorder riskBosl et al., 2011 · BMC MedicineRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- A stable pattern of EEG spectral coherence distinguishes children with autism from neuro-typical controls: a large case control studyDuffy and Als, 2012 · BMC MedicineRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- Resting state EEG abnormalities in autism spectrum disordersWang et al., 2013 · Journal of Neurodevelopmental DisordersRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- Resting state cortical connectivity reflected in EEG coherence in individuals with autismMurias et al., 2007 · Biological PsychiatryRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- EEG changes associated with autistic spectrum disordersBoutros et al., 2015 · Neuropsychiatric ElectrophysiologyRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- EEG analytics for early detection of autism spectrum disorder: a data-driven approachBosl et al., 2018 · Scientific ReportsRead the study (opens in a new tab)
How TMS works with the brain’s rhythms
- Rhythmic TMS causes local entrainment of natural oscillatory signaturesThut et al., 2011 · Current BiologyRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation affects behavior by biasing endogenous cortical oscillationsHamidi et al., 2009 · Frontiers in Integrative NeuroscienceRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- Making waves in the brain: what are oscillations, and why modulating them makes sense for brain injuryPevzner et al., 2016 · Frontiers in Systems NeuroscienceRead the study (opens in a new tab)
MRI and DTI: imaging and TMS
These studies look at using MRI to choose where TMS is aimed, and at changes seen on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) after a course of TMS for depression.
- A randomized trial of rTMS targeted with MRI based neuro-navigation in treatment-resistant depressionFitzgerald et al., 2009 · NeuropsychopharmacologyRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- Efficacy of transcranial magnetic stimulation targets for depression is related to intrinsic functional connectivity with the subgenual cingulateFox et al., 2012 · Biological PsychiatryRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- Fractional anisotropy changes after several weeks of daily left high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the prefrontal cortex to treat major depressionKozel et al., 2011 · Journal of ECTRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- High-frequency rTMS treatment increases white matter FA in the left middle frontal gyrus in young patients with treatment-resistant depressionPeng et al., 2012 · Journal of Affective DisordersRead the study (opens in a new tab)
Dr. Liker’s published work
Two of the papers Dr. Mark Liker has co-authored. The second is about deep brain stimulation, his surgical field, not TMS.
- Interhemispheric symmetry in the alpha peak before and after rTMS for major depressive disorderDiaz et al., 2025 · IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society conferenceRead the study (opens in a new tab)
- Stereotactic awake basal ganglia electrophysiological recording and stimulation (SABERS): a novel staged procedure for personalized targeting of deep brain stimulation in pediatric movement and neuropsychiatric disordersLiker et al., 2024 · Journal of Child NeurologyRead the study (opens in a new tab)
Early work
Presentations, pilot studies, case reports and registered trials. Most haven’t been published as full peer-reviewed papers, so read them as early findings. Some are listed without a link for now, while we gather copies of them.
- Individualized electromagnetic treatment in posttraumatic stress disorder: a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trialTaghva et al. · Conference poster
- EEG/EKG-guided TMS in veterans with PTSD: a randomized, double-blinded pilot studySociety for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics, poster
- Magnetic e-resonant therapy alleviates combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder2017 · Aerospace Medical Association, presentation
- Noninvasive EEG-EKG guided trans-magnetic stimulation at natural resonance frequency in children with autism: a randomized, double-blinded pilot studyKim et al. · Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics, abstract
- Improved autism behaviors after non-invasive cerebral trans-magnetic stimulation using customized frequency modulation: follow-upAmerican Association of Neurological Surgeons, poster
- The potential of magnetic resonant therapy in children with autism spectrum disorder2016 · Austin Publishing Group
- Magnetic resonance therapy for non-invasive neuromodulation of minimally conscious state: a report of 2 casesLui et al. · Case report
- A registered clinical trial in PTSD, for service membersClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02824445Trial record (opens in a new tab)
- A registered clinical trial in PTSD, including brain injury and post-concussive symptomsClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02990793Trial record (opens in a new tab)
Questions about the research?
We’re glad to talk through what a study does and doesn’t show, and what it might mean for you. Book a free consultation
For professionals
Physicians and researchers interested in working with us can reach our team through the referrals page. For professionals