Elsevier Announces Launch of Brain Stimulation

World-leading scientific and medical publisher Elsevier announced today plans to commence publication of the first international, peer-reviewed journal devoted to the emerging science of brain stimulation. The cross-disciplinary journal, titled Brain Stimulation: Basic, Translational, and Clinical Research in Neuromodulation, will premiere later this year.

Brain Stimulation will cover all aspects of this rapidly evolving field, from the most basic molecular research, to innovative technology and surgical techniques, to practical clinical studies. The editorial focus will encompass all technologies and methods using any type of stimulation—electrical, magnetic, ultrasound, or pharmacological, and others—to affect brain function. The goal will be to provide a single source for the most important studies in all areas related to neuromodulation, spanning scientific disciplines and medical and surgical specialties.

Each quarterly issue of Brain Stimulation will present original scientific, translational, and clinical research in the field. Basic science topics will include the effects of stimulation on brain processes, the biophysics and biopsychophysics of stimulation approaches, and the use of these techniques to study patterns of neural connectivity. An equal emphasis will be placed on the therapeutic applications and adverse effects of stimulation techniques—not just clinical trials, but also conceptual pieces, consideration of ethical issues, and other issues related to the use of these new technologies to treat human diseases.

In addition, the new journal will feature special topic reviews, perspective pieces on new technologies and techniques, and letters. Reflecting the enthusiastic response of the world scientific community, the editorial board consists of key leaders representing the many disciplines involved in brain stimulation research.

“The field of brain stimulation represents a new discipline with remarkable potential to reveal brain-behavior relationships and to produce interventions with novel and powerful therapeutic properties,” said Dr. Harold A. Sackeim of Columbia University, Founding Editor of Brain Stimulation. “This discipline necessarily involves combining knowledge of basic neurophysiology and biophysics with systems neuroscience, pharmacology, disease processes and therapeutics. The journal will advance integrative research and should be key in establishing this new scientific field.”

Dr. Mark S. George of the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, will serve as Editor-in-Chief. “There is an explosion of new techniques for stimulating the brain, both for research into how the brain works, and as potential treatments,” said Dr. George. “This new area of neuroscience draws importantly from neuroimaging, computer science, and biophysics, as well as from the clinical disciplines of neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry. We hope that Brain Stimulation will serve as a mechanism and forum to bring these different disciplines together under one umbrella.”

Subscribers will be able to access the entire contents of each issue on the journal website, http://brainstimjrnl.com. Plans call for special subscriber-only online content, such as video and other documentation of brain stimulation procedures, supplemental data and tables, early-release papers, and clinical trial listings. The journal will also be accessible through Elsevier’s institutional subscription service, ScienceDirect.

Contributors will be able to submit manuscripts electronically via the Elsevier Editorial System, streamlining the peer review and editorial process. The editors have issued a call for papers, and encourage authors to submit papers now via the “Online Submission” link on the journal website.

“Currently there are brain stimulation therapies for depression, Parkinson’s Disease, and epilepsy, with over nine techniques in active investigation,” said Dr. George. “The literature concerning these new technologies is rapidly expanding and does not have a single home. With the launch of this journal, we hope to encourage cross-disciplinary thinking, and help guide and form this new field.”