I am a clinical and academic neurologist specialising in Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). After initial neurology training in Melbourne, I completed fellowships in movement disorders/DBS at Oxford and Queen Square. I then worked as consultant neurologist to the DBS service at Oxford and completed a PhD investigating the mechanisms of DBS in Parkinson’s disease. Since returning to Melbourne, I have worked closely with Neurosurgeon Kristian Bulluss, running a busy DBS practice which spans University of Melbourne affiliated public hospitals and private practice. My research is based at the Bionics Institute, aiming to optimise subthalamic nucleus DBS for Parkinson’s disease. This led to the important discovery of “Evoked Resonance Neural Activity” (ERNA), a new biomarker with potential to deliver automated DBS programming and to trigger feedback ‘adaptive’ control. This research has been made possible by 5 NHMRC project/development grants and generous support from the Bethlehem Griffiths Research Foundation, Brain foundation, Lions International and the Colonial Foundation.

Research Projects

Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation Device (ASTUTE system)

Improved positioning for DBS (ADEPT device)

Pre-clinical validation (ERNA signal)

Recent publications

  1. Ramirez-Zamora, A., J. Giordano, A. Gunduz, J. Alcantara, N.J. Cagle, S. Cernera, P. Difuntorum, S. Eisinger, J. Gomez, S. Long, B. Parks, J.K. Wong, S. Chiu, B. Patel, W.M. Grill, H.C. Walker, S.J. Little, R. Gilron, G. Tinkhauser, W. Thevathasan, N. C. Sinclair, A. M. Lozano, T. Foltynie, A. Fasano, S. A. Sheth, K. Scangos, T. D. Sanger, J. Miller, A. C. Brumback, P. Rajasethupathy, C. McIntyre, L. Schlachter, N. Suthana, C. Kubu, L. R. Sankary, K. Herrera-Ferrá, S. Goetz, B. Cheeran, G. K. Steinke, C. Hess, L. Almeida, W. Deeb, K.D. Foote, and S.O. Michael. 2020. Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank: Advances in Neurophysiology, Adaptive DBS, Virtual Reality, Neuroethics and Technology, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 14(54).

  2. Thevathasan, Wesley, Nicholas C. Sinclair, Kristian J. Bulluss, and Hugh J. McDermott. 2020. Tailoring Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson's Disease Using Evoked Resonant Neural Activity, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 14(71): doi: 3389/fnhum.2020.00071

  3. Warren, A. E. L., L. J. Dalic, W. Thevathasan, A. Roten, K. J. Bulluss, and J. Archer. 2020. Targeting the centromedian thalamic nucleus for deep brain stimulation, Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry: [epub ahead of print].

  4. Sinclair, Nicholas Campbell, James B Fallon, Kristian Bulluss, Wesley Thevathasan, and Hugh J McDermott. 2019. On the neural basis of deep brain stimulation evoked resonant activity, Biomedical Physics & Engineering Express, 5: 057001.

  5. Sinclair, N. C., H. J. McDermott, J. B. Fallon, T. Perera, P. Brown, K. J. Bulluss, and W. Thevathasan. 2019. Deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease modulates high-frequency evoked and spontaneous neural activity, Neurobiology of disease, 130: 104522.

  6. Tan, J., W. Thevathasan, J. McGinley, P. Brown, and T. Perera. 2019. An Instrumented Pull Test to Characterize Postural Responses. Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE(146): e59309. doi: 3791/59309.

  7. Sinclair, N. C., H. J. McDermott, J. B. Fallon, T. Perera, P. Brown, K. J. Bulluss, and W. Thevathasan. 2019. Deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease modulates high- frequency evoked and spontaneous neural activity. Neurobiology of disease. 130: 104522. doi: 1016/j.nbd.2019.104522.

  8. Sinclair, N. C., J. B. Fallon, K. Bulluss, W. Thevathasan, and H. J. McDermott. 2019. On the neural basis of deep brain stimulation evoked resonant activity. Biomedical Physics & Engineering Express. 5: 057001. doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/2057-1976/ab366e.

  9. Thevathasan, W., and E. Moro. 2018. What is the therapeutic mechanism of pedunculopontine nucleus stimulation in Parkinson’s disease? Neurobiology of disease: [epub ahead of print]. doi: 1016/j.nbd.2018.06.014.

  10. Tan, J. L., T. Perera, J. L. McGinley, S. A. C. Yohanandan, P. Brown, and W. Thevathasan. 2018. Neurophysiological analysis of the clinical pull test. Journal of Neurophysiology: [epub ahead of print]. doi: 1152/jn.00789.2017.

Further information

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Author: Amelia Cavanagh

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