Alexander Cohen, MD, PhD
Neurologist, Department of Neurology
Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
Image
Alexander Cohen, MD, PhD
Neurologist, Department of Neurology
Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
Medical Services
Languages
English
Education
Medical School
Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine
2011
St. Louis
MO
Internship
Mayo Clinic
2012
Rochester
MN
Residency
Mayo Clinic
2016
Rochester
NY
Fellowship
Boston Children's Hospital
2018
Boston
MA
Certifications
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (Child and Adolescent Neurology)
Professional History
I am a physician-scientist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. I received my B.A. in Biology and Biomedical Physics and my M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis where I focused on neuroimaging research that formed the basis for the Human Connectome Project. I then completed residency training in pediatrics and child neurology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN and a clinical fellowship in pediatric behavioral neurology followed by a T32 postdoc fellowship translational research in neurodevelopmental disorders here at Boston Children’s Hospital.
My current research focuses on identifying which brain circuits are involved in specific symptoms seen in autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders using network neuroimaging techniques and coming up with ways to modulate these brain circuits with non-invasive neuromodulation such as TMS and real-time fMRI neurofeedback. My work has been supported by the Child Neurology Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative.
I also care for patients in the Autism Spectrum Center and Behavioral Neurology Clinic as part of the new multidisciplinary Brain, Mind, and Behavior Center at Two Brookline Place.
Approach to Care
I have always been fascinated by the mystery of how the intricately woven connections of the brain develop in every child and make each of us 'who we are' and how tiny changes can result in dramatic differences.
As a physician-scientist, my goal is to use knowledge we discover in the laboratory to inform clinical practice as well as translate discoveries into practical ways to improve the lives of children and families affected by neurodevelopmental disorders.
As a physician-scientist, my goal is to use knowledge we discover in the laboratory to inform clinical practice as well as translate discoveries into practical ways to improve the lives of children and families affected by neurodevelopmental disorders.
Publications
Mapping Lesions That Cause Psychosis to a Human Brain Circuit and Proposed Stimulation Target. View Abstract
A generalized epilepsy network derived from brain abnormalities and deep brain stimulation. View Abstract
Mapping Neuroimaging Findings of Creativity and Brain Disease Onto a Common Brain Circuit. View Abstract
Accumulated seizure burden predicts neurodevelopmental outcome at 36?months of age in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex. View Abstract
Prediction of stroke severity: systematic evaluation of lesion representations. View Abstract
Heterogenous brain activations across individuals localize to a common network. View Abstract
Mapping Lesion-Related Human Aggression to a Common Brain Network. View Abstract
Localization of stuttering based on causal brain lesions. View Abstract
The past, present, and future of the brain imaging data structure (BIDS). View Abstract
Timing the clinical onset of epileptic spasms in infantile epileptic spasms syndrome: A tertiary health center's experience. View Abstract
The Past, Present, and Future of the Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS). View Abstract
Brain Circuits Involved in Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Response in Adults Are Connected to a Similar Prefrontal Target in Children. View Abstract
Mapping Lesion-Related Epilepsy to a Human Brain Network. View Abstract
Multiple sclerosis lesions that impair memory map to a connected memory circuit. View Abstract
Network Localization of Awareness in Visual and Motor Anosognosia. View Abstract
Reply to "Is There an Association between Tuber Involvement of the Fusiform Face Area in Autism Diagnosis?" View Abstract
A Lesion-Derived Brain Network for Emotion Regulation. View Abstract
Tubers Affecting the Fusiform Face Area Are Associated with Autism Diagnosis. View Abstract
Brain lesions disrupting addiction map to a common human brain circuit. View Abstract
Using causal methods to map symptoms to brain circuits in neurodevelopment disorders: moving from identifying correlates to developing treatments. View Abstract
Regional Distribution of Brain Injury After Cardiac Arrest: Clinical and Electrographic Correlates. View Abstract
Network Localization of Unconscious Visual Perception in Blindsight. View Abstract
Reducing the Effects of Motion Artifacts in fMRI: A Structured Matrix Completion Approach. View Abstract
Reply: Looking beyond indirect lesion network mapping of prosopagnosia: direct measures required. View Abstract
A Neural Circuit for Spirituality and Religiosity Derived From Patients With Brain Lesions. View Abstract
Matched neurofeedback during fMRI differentially activates reward-related circuits in active and sham groups. View Abstract
Lesion network mapping predicts post-stroke behavioural deficits and improves localization. View Abstract
Face-Processing Performance is an Independent Predictor of Social Affect as Measured by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule Across Large-Scale Datasets. View Abstract
Tuber Locations Associated with Infantile Spasms Map to a Common Brain Network. View Abstract
Mapping mania symptoms based on focal brain damage. View Abstract
Reply: The influence of sample size and arbitrary statistical thresholds in lesion-network mapping. View Abstract
Mapping migraine to a common brain network. View Abstract
Cortical lesions causing loss of consciousness are anticorrelated with the dorsal brainstem. View Abstract
Looking beyond the face area: lesion network mapping of prosopagnosia. View Abstract
Pediatric postoperative cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome follows outflow pathway lesions. View Abstract
Response to "smoking, co-morbidities and narcolepsy". View Abstract
Response to "High fatigue frequency in narcolepsy type 1 and type 2 in a Brazilian Sleep Center". View Abstract
De Novo DNM1L Variant in a Teenager With Progressive Paroxysmal Dystonia and Lethal Super-refractory Myoclonic Status Epilepticus. View Abstract
Comorbidities in a community sample of narcolepsy. View Abstract
Intractable Epilepsy and Progressive Cognitive Decline in a Young Man. View Abstract
BIDS apps: Improving ease of use, accessibility, and reproducibility of neuroimaging data analysis methods. View Abstract
NeuroDebian Virtual Machine Deployment Facilitates Trainee-Driven Bedside Neuroimaging Research. View Abstract
Case of a two-year-old boy with recurrent seizures, abnormal movements, and central hypoventilation. View Abstract
Parcellating an individual subject's cortical and subcortical brain structures using snowball sampling of resting-state correlations. View Abstract
Functional network organization of the human brain. View Abstract
Parcellation in left lateral parietal cortex is similar in adults and children. View Abstract
Prediction of individual brain maturity using fMRI. View Abstract
A parcellation scheme for human left lateral parietal cortex. View Abstract
Identifying Basal Ganglia divisions in individuals using resting-state functional connectivity MRI. View Abstract
Role of the anterior insula in task-level control and focal attention. View Abstract
Functional brain networks develop from a "local to distributed" organization. View Abstract
Resting-state functional connectivity in the human brain revealed with diffuse optical tomography. View Abstract
Mapping the human brain at rest with diffuse optical tomography. View Abstract
Control networks in paediatric Tourette syndrome show immature and anomalous patterns of functional connectivity. View Abstract
Defining functional areas in individual human brains using resting functional connectivity MRI. View Abstract
The maturing architecture of the brain's default network. View Abstract
A dual-networks architecture of top-down control. View Abstract
Development of distinct control networks through segregation and integration. View Abstract
Distinct brain networks for adaptive and stable task control in humans. View Abstract
A method for using blocked and event-related fMRI data to study "resting state" functional connectivity. View Abstract
Tyrosine-phosphorylated and nonphosphorylated isoforms of alpha-dystrobrevin: roles in skeletal muscle and its neuromuscular and myotendinous junctions. View Abstract