This study uses resting-state fMRI to stratify chronic low back pain patients into phenotypes based on brain activity and sensory abnormalities, revealing distinct connectivity patterns and predicting pain locations.

bioRxiv · Jun 18, 2026 · PreprintNeuroscience

Deep behavioral phenotyping tracks functional recovery following tibia fracture in mice

Jonathan E. Layne, Dustin M. Snapper, Molly E. Czachor, Charles Lam, Jacob D. Matityahu, Dane R.G. Lind, Matthieu Huard, Johnny Huard, Kazuhito Morioka, Julian C. Motzkin, Allan I. Basbaum, Jarret A.P. Weinrich, Chelsea S. Bahney

This paper develops a machine learning-based behavioral phenotyping approach to quantify functional recovery in mice with tibia fractures, finding that pin stabilization improves recovery and that recovery patterns vary over time.

Frontiers in Physiology · Aug 26, 2025Peer-reviewedAnimal Behavior & Cognition

Therapeutic DBS for OCD Suppresses the Default Mode Network

Natalya Slepneva, Genevieve Basich‐Pease, Lee B. Reid, Adam Charles Frank, Tenzin Norbu, Andrew D. Krystal, Leo P. Sugrue, Julian C. Motzkin, Paul Larson, Philip A. Starr, Melanie A. Morrison, A Moses Lee

This study shows that therapeutic DBS for OCD suppresses BOLD activity in the default mode network compared to non-therapeutic configurations.

Human Brain Mapping · Dec 15, 2024Peer-reviewedNeuroscience

Human ventromedial prefrontal cortex lesions enhance expectation-related pain modulation

Julian C. Motzkin, Jaryd Hiser, I Carroll, R Wolf, Mustafa K. Başkaya, Michael R. Koenigs, Lauren Yvette Atlas

This study examines how ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) lesions affect pain modulation by expectations, finding enhanced expectancy-related pain unpleasantness in lesioned individuals.

bioRxiv · Nov 30, 2021 · PreprintNeuroscience