Neuromod+

Advancing UK Neurotechnology: Reflections on Our Joint Symposium

Kate Hobson — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 11:27:08 +0000

The closeNIT and Neuromod+ networks have been working closely to foster collaboration across the neuroscience and neurotechnology communities, including co-hosting the second UK Symposium on Neuromodulation and Neurotechnology on 25–26 November in Newcastle upon Tyne. The two-day meeting brought together researchers from diverse disciplines for stimulating discussion and networking, with sessions covering neuromodulation for cognition and mental health, the implementation of neurotechnology in neurology and psychiatry, recent advances in the field and the commercialisation and regulation of emerging technologies.

As both projects near their end, we are committed to maintaining the strong collaboration and momentum built through these networks. Representatives from both networks are planning an annual meeting – the next to be hosted in Oxford towards the end of 2026 – to continue to develop activity in the space, and carry forward the legacy of a cohesive neurotechnology community in the UK.

Making Brain Research More Inclusive

Kate Hobson — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 13:50:28 +0000

A new video, from Neuromod+ awardee Mahnaz Arvaneh and team, highlights the importance of diversity in in brain research. The collaborative team were awarded funding from Neuromod+ for their projects: “Fostering Acceptance and Inclusivity of Non-Invasive Neurotechnology in African Ethnic Minority Communities” and the follow-up “Bridging the Gap: Promoting Acceptance and Inclusivity of Non-Invasive Neurotechnology in Ethnic Minority Communities”.

Mahnaz writes “Brain research and neurotechnologies are transforming healthcare, from understanding how the brain works to developing new treatments for conditions like stroke and epilepsy. But these technologies don’t always work equally well for everyone. Biological and phenotypic factors—such as hair type, skin tone, head size, skull thickness, and hormonal differences—can all influence how well neurotechnologies capture brain signals. This means that if research excludes people from diverse backgrounds, the results may not be reliable or beneficial for all communities. Despite this, participants from minority populations remain critically underrepresented in UK neurotechnology studies. A University of Sheffield-led project, funded by the UKRI Neuromod+ Network, set out to change this.

In collaboration with the Israac Community Centre in Sheffield, researchers co-designed interactive workshops to explore how communities engage with brain research. Shaped around cultural needs, these sessions built trust, improved understanding, and revealed practical barriers and solutions—leading to recommendations for more inclusive study designs and even a prototype EEG electrode.

The project was a joint effort between the University of Sheffield (led by Dr Mahnaz Arvaneh and Dr Dan Blackburn) and the NIHR Devices for Dignity MedTech Co-operative (led by Lise Sproson). It highlights the value of working directly with communities to build trust, raise awareness, and adapt research tools that make participation easier and more representative.

To share the outcomes, the team created a short video, designed to raise awareness among both researchers and communities about the importance of diversity in brain research.

This work provides a model for inclusive, community-led neurotechnology research that can be replicated across the UK and beyond.”

View and share the video here: Equality & Diversity in Neuroscience

This work has also been reported in the EPSRC Healthcare Technologies Newsletter Oct 25.

Have your say on neuromodulation!

Kate Hobson — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 13:41:42 +0000

Researchers at the Nottingham Institute of Mental Health have launched a survey to understand what people think about “neuromodulation” (non-invasive brain stimulation) treatments for mental health conditions. This survey was partly developed with funding from a Neuromod+ flexible funding award.

The survey will help researchers and clinicians developing neuromodulation treatments to design clinical trials and information resources that better meet patient needs.

All entrants will have the opportunity of winning an Amazon voucher, and can choose to be notified about follow-up focus groups/interviews or future neuromodulation research studies.

The team are particularly interested in the views of people with lived experience of mental health difficulties (whether diagnosed or self-identified), as well as carers for people with mental health difficulties.

Participants do not need to have any previous knowledge or experience of neuromodulation. The survey includes short videos and infographics demonstrating the treatments.

If you’re interested in finding out more or taking part, scan the QR-code in the poster or visit: https://bit.ly/nm-survey

Neuromod+ at the Great Exhibition Road Festival

Kate Hobson — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 12:51:29 +0000

We had a great weekend representing Neuromod+ at the Great Exhibition Road Festival on 7 & 8 June. An estimated 55,000 people attended the multiple South Kensington sites over two days, with amazing content from Imperial, Science Museum, V&A, Goethe Institute and more.

On the Neuromod+ stand, we enjoyed guiding visitors through our VR experience where they could talk to virtual patients to learn more about different minimally invasive neuromodulation techniques, or just throw basketballs or brains around!

Visitors also had the chance to try some noninvasive neuromodulation tech for themselves in the form of three Zenbud focussed ultrasound headsets. Some liked the experience so much they came back for another go!

As well as these, kids and adults had a great time playing our “Mindgames – Neuron Cascade” arcade game, where they could simulate stimulating neural nodes to prevent the spread of a brain disorder, and we were also lucky enough to have Rufus Mitchell-Heggs join us on the Sunday to tell visitors about the work of Connectome Health.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend! Thanks to our marvellous Neuromod+ team!

Early Career Researcher call for funding OPEN!

Kate Hobson — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 12:34:51 +0000

Neuromod+ Early Career Researcher (ECR) awards aim to support ECR training and development, encourage collaboration between Neuromod+ members, and further network research goals.

We invite ECRs to apply for awards of up to £2,000 to fund activities that align with network aims or priorities.

Example activities are a visit to another affiliated research group, attendance at a conference to present relevant research, organising an event or training activity, but we welcome alternative ideas. This funding is not intended to cover research studies or research costs.

The scheme is open to ECR members of Neuromod+ who work or study at a UK organisation that is normally eligible to receive funding from EPSRC. For this funding call, Neuromod+ considers an ECR as a member who is within eight years of their PhD viva, or within three years of their first academic appointment (where research or teaching is the primary role).

Unfortunately we are not able to support students in this call.

Please visit our funding page for full details of the call and how to apply.

Five new feasibility studies funded in third and final Neuromod+ funding call

Kate Hobson — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 20:05:22 +0000

Five original projects have been funded by Neuromod+ in our final call for feasibility studies.

Mahnaz Arvaneh, Daniel Blackburn, Lise Sproson & Ismail Yussuf’s Bridging the Gap: Promoting Acceptance and Inclusivity of Non-Invasive Neurotechnology in Ethnic Minority Communities builds on their previous Neuromod+ award, Fostering Acceptance and Inclusivity of Non-Invasive Neurotechnology in African Ethnic Minority Communities, to co-create video interviews with end users and clinicians, to address the unique needs and concerns of these communities, and demonstrate the positive impact of neurotechnology on health and well-being, promoting its acceptance and inclusivity.

Elsa Fouragnan & Samuel Hughes’s Leveraging Multisite Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation of the Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex for Endogenous Pain Modulation aims to pave the way for groundbreaking clinical applications in pain management by capitalising on the response of brain cells to transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) to precisely target multiple subsections of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex.

Richard Morriss & Paul Briley’s Personalised dual-site dual-device neuromodulation for anxiety will investigate the mechanisms of action of simultaneous transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), and its potential for treating anxiety symptoms.

Kat Dyke, Domenica Veniero, Lugi tame and Nicholas Holmes’s Reliability and optimization of somatosensory afferent inhibition (SAI) as a clinical biomarker in healthy ageing will combine non-invasive brain stimulation and a brain imaging approach called ‘electroencephalography’ (EEG) to improve understanding of how the healthy brain ages.

Charlotte Stagg, Polytimi Frangou, Saad Jbabdi, William Clarke, Elly Martin & Angelika Zarkali’s Using neurophysiology and multimodal MRI to characterise cholinergic potentiation by Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation of deep- and mid-brain structures will use focused ultrasound neuromodulation and spectroscopic imaging tools to investigate the role of Acetylcholine (ACh) in the human brain. ACh is one of the most important neurochemicals in the brain and its deficit is linked to neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The study will set foundations for developing ACh-enhancing therapeutic interventions against cholinergic deficits.

We congratulate all our awardees and look forward to seeing how their projects progress.

UK Symposium on Neuromodulation & Neurotechnology

Kate Hobson — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 12:24:45 +0000

On 12th-13th Sept we held the UK Symposium on Neuromodulation and Neurotechnology in Nottingham, sponsored jointly by the EPSRC NeuroMod+ and CloseNIT networks. As well as fantastic plenary talks from Abby Russo, PhD (from CTRL-Labs, META) and Daisy Thompson-Lake PhD (West Virginia University), there were a great set of academic talks and “Neurotech bites” from up and coming researchers, as well as discussion sessions on the growing Neurotechnology industry in the UK, and Public Involvement in Neurotechnology. The full line-up can be found in our programme here. Thanks to everyone involved in making the event a great success!

Seven innovative projects awarded in second Neuromod+ funding call

Kate Hobson — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 14:49:32 +0000

We are delighted to have been able to award seven new projects in the latest Neuromod+ funding call. Projects cover varied topics, from acceptance of neurotechnology among ethnic minority communities, to investigating how focussed ultrasound works in neuromodulation and looking at new approaches for enhancing memory performance. The wide range of disorders addressed in the funded projects (including motor neurone disease, memory disorders, mental health conditions and other neurological and neurodegenerative conditions), highlight the potential of minimally invasive neuromodulation to be applied to a huge variety of conditions and disorders.

A list of the projects awarded is below. Find out more on the funding page of our website.

Mahnaz Arvaneh: Fostering Acceptance and Inclusivity of Non-Invasive Neurotechnology in African Ethnic Minority Communities
Rob Dineen: Clinical Trial Readiness for Non-Invasive Therapeutic Neuromodulation in Ataxia Telangiectasia
Tracy Farr: Understanding the mechanisms by which low intensity focussed ultrasound is able to modulate neural activity
Marcus Kaiser: Closed-loop focused ultrasound neuromodulation: Testing different strategies in healthy human participants
Alekhya Mandali: Optimising transcranial electrical stimulation for motor neurone disease
Jacinta O’Shea: Remediating depressive cognition using a novel brain stimulation device
Simon Schultz: Sharp-wave ripple triggered neuromodulation for memory enhancement

Congratulations to our awardees and thank you to all the teams who submitted a proposal.
Our third call for funding for feasibility studies will open in late in 2024.

Call for study participants: Non-Invasive Temporal Interference Stimulation to Augment Cognition

Kate Hobson — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 10:15:01 +0000

The UK Dementia Research Institute is looking for healthy participants to join their study exploring the augmentation of attentional control using temporal interference (TI).

As part of the UK Dementia Research Institute, we are developing brain stimulation interventions to improve the lives of people with dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease – a disease characterised by loss of memory and cognitive functions.

We developed a novel non-invasive brain stimulation technology called temporal interference (TI), which is capable of targeting deep structures for the first time (a procedure that has been previously impossible without surgical intervention).

We have already demonstrated that the TI stimulation of a deep structure called the hippocampus can improve memory performance in healthy human participants. We are now testing its benefits in Alzheimer’s patients. See, for example, recent press coverages by Imperial and ITV News.

We are now looking for healthy participants in our new study to explore the augmentation of attention control. Impaired attentional control underpins the loss of many cognitive functions in people with dementia.

The study will involve non-invasive TI stimulation of the visual cortex, EEG, recording, and cognitive tests. All the participants will be paid for their time; please see the details below.

Study location: Sir Michael Uren Building, White City Campus, Imperial College London
Duration: 2.5 – 3 hours
Compensation: £25 (via Amazon voucher)

If you want to participate, simply indicate your preferred time via this link (we will follow up) or email Dr Eddy Rhodes at e.rhodes@imperial.ac.uk.

Image credit: Helix Centre

Neuromodulation survey suggests that patients and public prefer safe and noninvasive neuromodulation for mental health

Kate Hobson — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 15:49:49 +0000

A large-scale online survey of patients and the general public, led by researchers at Nottingham University, has captured views on using neuromodulation for brain and mental health interventions. The survey results suggest that noninvasive methods are preferred, and considered safe for mental health interventions.

Find out more about the survey and see the results here: A large-scale online survey of patients and the general public: Preferring safe and noninvasive neuromodulation for mental health | medRxiv