Noninvasive Brain Stimulation Research

Advancing the Future of Neuroscience and Brain Health

The Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School is a pioneering research facility dedicated to exploring brain-behavior relationships and advancing neuropsychiatric treatments. We leverage cutting-edge neuroimaging, genetic measurements and behavioral tasks to investigate brain plasticity and improve our understanding of brain function. Our center is renowned for its contributions to noninvasive brain stimulation research, education and clinical care. 

About Our Research

One of the longest running brain stimulation research centers in the world, the Berenson-Allen Center brings together neuroimaging methodologies, genetic measurements, and behavioral tasks to explore some of neuroscience's most pressing questions. Whether examining clinical disorders, integrated network dynamics, or basic neurophysiologic systems, our research aims to better understand how the brain, mind and body interact to promote health and understanding. 

Noninvasive Brain Stimulation Research

The Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation was established with the generous support of Helaine B. Allen and Alvin B. Allen, Theodore S. and Cynthia L. Berenson through the Theodore W. and Evelyn G. Berenson Charitable foundation.

We are a world leader in research and development, clinical application, and teaching of noninvasive brain stimulation. We use noninvasive brain stimulation to gain novel insights into the human brain and mind.

Our work has been fundamental in establishing noninvasive brain stimulation as a valuable tool in clinical and fundamental neuroscience, improving the technology and its integration with several brain-imaging methodologies, and helping to create the field of therapeutic noninvasive brain stimulation.

We are committed to providing education and training on the use of noninvasive brain stimulation for both clinical practice and research.

Our clinical program for noninvasive brain stimulation provides treatment for a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, epilepsy, dystonia, Parkinson's disease, chronic pain, epilepsy, autism, and the neurorehabilitation of motor function, cognition, and language after stroke or traumatic brain injury.

Our Mission & Programs

At the Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, we have three distinct missions: Research, Education and Patient Care.

Our research explores brain-behavior relations, brain plasticity and its modulation, employing different noninvasive brain stimulation techniques combined with careful task design, electroencephalography, and functional brain imaging.

Educational efforts feature several Continuing Medical Education Courses including a week long intensive course in noninvasive brain stimulation offered 3 times per year.

Our clinical program offers noninvasive brain stimulation for treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression and schizophrenia, epilepsy, and chronic pain. Clinical work also includes studies of central motor conduction time, cortical excitability, and noninvasive cortical mapping.