Dr Divya Bharatkumar Adhia

Research

I am an early career researcher with specific interests in the identification of cortical targets using electrical activity of the brain (Electroencephalography) and its treatment using non-invasive neuromodulation techniques, such as neurofeedback and transcranial electrical stimulation, in a variety of disorders with thalamocortical dysrhythmia including: chronic pain, mild cognitive Impairment and early Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, tinnitus, anxiety, depression, and reward-deficiency syndromes.

Our Brai3n research group is an international research group that follows the same philosophy and has the same mission using functional imaging and neuromodulation to study how the brain works.

Visit the Brai3n website

Current projects

Chronic Pain

1. Non-invasive neuromodulation (transcranial electrical stimulation and neurofeedback) for chronic low back pain, and fibromyalgia (Leading as PI) in collaboration with Professor Dirk De Ridder (Neurosurgery), Dr Ramakrishnan Mani (Physiotherapy), Professor John Reynolds (Anatomy) and Professor Sven Vanneste (University of Texas)
2. Brain responses in individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain (Low back pain, Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid arthritis, Fibromyalgia): Collaboration with Dr Mani, Professor De Ridder, and Dr Rajesh Katare (Physiology) as a co-PI

Alzheimer’s Disease

Effect of novel high-definition transcranial noise stimulation and theta-gamma stimulation in individuals with early Alzheimer’s disease: Leading as PI in collaboration with Professor Dirk De Ridder, Dr Nick Cutfield (Medicine), and Professor Sven Vanneste (University of Texas).

Tinnitus

Psychedelics and TES for treating functional connectivity problems in individuals with tinnitus: Leading as co-PI in collaboration with Professor De Ridder, Professor Paul Glue (Psychological Medicine), Associate Professor Bruce Russel (Pharmacy), Associate Professor Yiwen Zheng (Pharmacology), Professor Paul Smith (Pharmacology), Associate Professor Grant Searchfield (University of Auckland), and Professor Sven Vanneste (Trinity College Dublin).

Advance EEG analysis for pain, tinnitus, obesity, and depression

Using artificial intelligence techniques in collaboration with Associate Professor Zhiyi Huang (Computer Science), Associate Professor Jeremiah Deng (Information Sciences), Professor Dirk De Ridder, Professor Paul Glue, Professor Patrick Manning, and Dr Ramakrishnan Mani.

Depression / Internalizing disorders

TES for treating functional connectivity problems in individuals with depression: Collaboration with Professor De Ridder and Professor Glue as AI.

Neural correlates of love

Identification of EEG signature of love using hyperscanning techniques: Collaboration with Professor De Ridder, and Dr Marco Congedo (University of Grenoble-Alpes, Grenoble, France).

Stroke (ESTART trial)

Intermittent theta burst transcranial stimulation of motor cortex to augment rehabilitation: Collaboration with Professor Reynolds (Anatomy), Dr Cutfield (Medicine), Professor Hale (Physiotherapy) and Professor De Ridder and Professor Denise Taylor (Auckland University of Technology) as an AI.

Student supervision

PhD students:

• Jerin Mathew: Neurofeedback intervention to modulate knee osteoarthritic pain experience
• Tyson Perez: Infraslow neurofeedback for internalizing disorders
• William Pitts: Exploring psychedelics for treatment of tinnitus

Masters’ students:

• Sophie Smeele: Exploring novel neuromodulation techniques for treatment of tinnitus
• Cindy van Sleeuwen: Neuromodulation for generalized anxiety disorder

Honors students:

• Nathaniel Hutchinson-Wong: High-definition transcranial grey noise stimulation for treatment of major depressive disorder
• Shivankar Nair: Exploring high-definition transcranial infraslow pink noise stimulation for treatment of early Alzheimer's disease
• Lucy Anderson: Exploring novel neurofeedback technique for fibromyalgia

Summer students:

• Angad Chauhan: Infraslow frequency brain activity and functional connectivity in Early Alzheimer’s Disease
• Finn Whittington: Exploring high-definition multi-target stimulations for treatment of cognitive disorders