Andrew Pines's Avatar

Andrew Pines

@andrewpines

Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Interested in psychosis, causality, neuroimaging, neuromodulation

450
Followers
362
Following
83
Posts
08.10.2023
Joined
Posts Following

Latest posts by Andrew Pines @andrewpines

Andreas Horn breaks down recent exchanges on the lesion network mapping method.

05.03.2026 11:13 👍 3 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

This is a robust response. I particularly liked this figure - clarifying why the original critique showed what it did, and what was missing @foxmdphd.bsky.social

27.02.2026 12:28 👍 12 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0

We don't think it invalidates the approach.

We looked into this in our data and replicated the key result showing convergence to non-specific connectome structure. However, our results also suggest there is a practical fix that is already implemented in some LNM studies.

bsky.app/profile/pete...

23.02.2026 13:48 👍 2 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
Revisiting the methodological foundation of lesion network mapping Lesion network mapping (LNM) links focal brain lesions to distributed neural circuits by projecting lesion locations through a normative functional connectome. van den Heuvel and colleagues recently s...

New preprint: Revisiting the methodological foundation of lesion network mapping.

doi.org/10.64898/202...

A thread.

23.02.2026 12:28 👍 7 🔁 6 💬 1 📌 2

This is a great response. I love how it emphasizes the importance of reevaluating methods, promotes a collaborative scientific endeavor, and provides analyses (in my mind) sufficiently refuting the main concerns of the initial critique.

27.02.2026 16:21 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

A recent paper in @natureportfolio.nature.com raised concerns about the lesion network mapping method. Our team of 16 coauthors analyzed >1000 lesions and 34 symptoms and found that "The methodological foundations of lesion network mapping remain sound" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

26.02.2026 20:40 👍 45 🔁 21 💬 2 📌 3

A recent @natneuro.nature.com paper analyzed lesion network mapping and raised concerns about the validity of the method.
See below 👇 for our response.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

27.02.2026 07:27 👍 46 🔁 27 💬 1 📌 1
Video thumbnail

🧠⚡ New year, fresh StimBrains talks!

Join us when we explore the brain networks driving schizophrenia & how we can treat them via DBS.

January session (Thurs, Jan 29, noon ET / 6pm CET)
feat. the amazing @andrewpines.bsky.social & Nicola Cascella

✨ Get Zoom link here: talks.stimulatingbrains.org

20.01.2026 21:01 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 1
Post image

What is the status of DBS for epilepsy?
Find out in our new review/metaanalysis spearheaded by @laurenahart.bsky.social & Garance Meyer in JNNP: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40666371/

A 🧵 — please RT for reach! 🙏

19.12.2025 22:19 👍 21 🔁 16 💬 2 📌 1

Super excited about this!

20.01.2026 23:17 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
Can training your brain boost immune response? Vaccination study highlights power of positive thinking Training people to activate a part of the brain linked to reward and positive expectations may be associated with an increase in the body's immune response to a vaccine.

Activating brain regions linked to reward and positive expectations may be associated with increased antibody responses following vaccination, suggesting a connection between mental states and immune function. doi.org/hbkjfq

19.01.2026 14:14 👍 4 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
Investigating the methodological foundation of lesion network mapping - Nature Neuroscience The lesion network mapping method links diverse brain lesions to similar functional brain networks, reflecting general brain organization rather than disorder-specific circuits.

Are connectome-based network mapping methods and the >200 papers that have used it invalid?

New paper out in
@NatureNeuro
says YES. nature.com/articles/s41...

I have concerns about this new paper's methods and conclusions, but am biased. What do others think?

18.01.2026 01:59 👍 32 🔁 11 💬 4 📌 1
Preview
Rethinking the centrality of brain areas in understanding functional organization Nature Neuroscience - Parcellation of the cortex into functionally modular brain areas is foundational to neuroscience. Here, Hayden, Heilbronner and Yoo question the central status of brain areas...

New Perspective from myself, Sarah Heilbronner and @myoo.bsky.social . “Rethinking the centrality of brain areas in understanding functional organization” in Nature Neuroscience. 🧵

rdcu.be/eVZ1A

23.12.2025 13:02 👍 253 🔁 99 💬 9 📌 10
Flyer to join Holmes Lab

Flyer to join Holmes Lab

The Holmes Lab is #hiring a full-time research assistant/predoc! Our work focuses on functional brain networks-- how they change, how they are impacted in psychiatric illness, and much more!
Please rt and reach out if you’re interested 👀
Find out more holmeslab.rutgers.edu

11.11.2025 16:50 👍 8 🔁 8 💬 0 📌 0
Post image

🚨 New preprint out! 🚨
“Translating the Transcriptome: A Connectomics Approach for Gene-Network Mapping and Clinical Application”
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025... 

🧵 A short thread:

22.08.2025 14:21 👍 34 🔁 17 💬 2 📌 1
Post image

1/11 Excited to share our @Naturestudy led by @leonooi.bsky.social @csabaorban.bsky.social @shaoshiz.bsky.social

AI performance is known to scale with logarithm of sample size (Kaplan 2020), but in many domains, sample size can be # participants or # measurements...

doi.org/10.1038/s415...

17.07.2025 01:36 👍 172 🔁 82 💬 3 📌 16
Post image

Alert!!!!

“An Action Networks Model for Pain”

We propose a new model for chronic pain — and highlight two functionally connected cortical networks that could revolutionize how we treat it.

👉 thread below 🧵

osf.io/preprints/ps...

26.06.2025 13:28 👍 91 🔁 42 💬 2 📌 7
Preview
Coordinate Network Mapping of Focal Brain Volume Differences in ADHD Reveals Common Patterns That Lack Specificity: A Systematic Review Objective Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been associated with decreased regional brain volume, yet no consistent localization has emerged across studies. This discrepancy has be...

Thrilled our ADHD network mapping work is now out in Annals of the Child Neurology Society, and honored to be featured on the cover!
🔗 Full article: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

@childneurosoc.bsky.social @bostonchildrens.bsky.social @simonwarfield.bsky.social @braincircuits.bsky.social

17.06.2025 12:30 👍 24 🔁 12 💬 1 📌 0
Post image

Out now in Brain

A distinct pattern of brain damage intensifies political involvement, regardless of whether you're liberal, conservative, Democrat, or Republican.

With coauthors S.Balters,S. Cohen-Zimerman,G.Zamboni,J.Grafman

academic.oup.com/brain/advanc...

@braincircuits.bsky.social

23.03.2025 03:05 👍 13 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 2
Preview
Mixed Bag #22: Nils Wendel on Learning Psychopharmacology A book, a concept, a person, an article, and a surprise item

Mixed Bag #22: Nils Wendel on Learning Psychopharmacology

Wendel explores the topic using a book, a concept, a person, an article, and a surprise item

www.psychiatrymargins.com/p/mixed-bag-...

23.05.2025 14:39 👍 4 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 1
Post image

MR guided focused ultrasound surgery is an effective and uprising treatment option for Essential tremor. But where is the optimal site to sonicate? Which spots to avoid due to side-effects?

@science.org @braincircuits.bsky.social @netstim.org

– a thread🧵!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

14.05.2025 19:24 👍 30 🔁 16 💬 1 📌 2
Preview
‘Old’ brainstem structure evolved beyond basic motor control The human red nucleus may also help coordinate action, reward and motivated behavior, a new study suggests.

The brainstem’s red nucleus is an evolutionarily old structure that emerged as animals began to use limbs for walking, but its function in humans reaches beyond motor control, a new study suggests.

By @sydneywyatt.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/brain-imagin...

16.05.2025 16:55 👍 33 🔁 15 💬 2 📌 1

Rightfully so!

15.05.2025 14:14 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Post image

When modeling volumes of tissue activated in subthalamic DBS for clinical outcomes, does it matter whether we process data in native or template space? Julianna Pijar and Clemens Neudorfer say No in the Brain Stimulation Journal:
doi.org/10.1016/j.br...

12.05.2025 11:18 👍 15 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 0
Post image

🧠💊New preprint differentiating antipsychotic medication vs. illness effects on cortical thickness in people w/ psychosis.

Finding: People receiving placebo show prominent cortical thinning over 1st year of illness, whereas those receiving antipsychotics do not. 1/3

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

12.05.2025 01:09 👍 31 🔁 17 💬 2 📌 0

We’re hiring a clinical research coordinator to lead a neuroimaging study on brain changes across pregnancy and perinatal depression.

wd1.myworkdaysite.com/en-US/recrui...

Please RT.

28.04.2025 16:47 👍 16 🔁 18 💬 1 📌 2
Post image

It was a great honor to talk with the founding editor of Brain Stimulation, Dr. Harold Sackeim!
Beyond the past, present and future of ECT, we covered the entire field of neuromodulation.

Priceless insights from a key leader in the field!

Tune in here 👇

stimulatingbrains.org/71-harold-sa...

25.04.2025 02:12 👍 11 🔁 7 💬 1 📌 2

Really interesting thread and super cool work!

23.04.2025 09:48 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Post image Post image Post image

We had a truly inspiring and insightful conversation with Dr. Rees Cosgrove, Director of Epilepsy and Functional Neurosurgery at @brighamandwomens.bsky.social & Professor of Neurosurgery @harvardmed.bsky.social

Rediscovering the lost art of brain lesions…!

stimulatingbrains.org/70-rees-cosg...

22.04.2025 20:31 👍 9 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 2

A postdoc in my lab contacted a fellow scientist to get some advice and was told that, because he's currently working on the topic, he "can't give away all his secrets." I find this extremely lame, and yet I keep encountering it. Science is not a zero-sum game!!

16.04.2025 21:14 👍 109 🔁 12 💬 6 📌 3