Research

I am a clinical neuroscientist working at the intersection of brain stimulation, circuit-based psychiatric treatment, and the philosophy of mind. My research spans three overlapping areas:

Targeted brain stimulation. The development, validation, and clinical translation of individualized TMS protocols, especially accelerated and fMRI-guided approaches for treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, OCD, and related conditions. I was part of the Stanford research team that developed SAINT and continue to collaborate with Harvard on circuit mapping for new indications.

Circuit-based psychiatry. Using structural and functional neuroimaging to identify the specific neural circuits that drive specific psychiatric symptoms and to use that information to design targeted, individualized treatments. As Site Principal Investigator on an active NIH-funded study, I am helping build what is sometimes called a "causal wiring diagram" of transdiagnostic brain functions.

Self-control, agency, and philosophy of mind. How do people exercise willpower in everyday life? What is the relationship between neural mechanism and conscious agency? I have collaborated with Roy Baumeister and Brad Wright on experience-sampling research into moment-to-moment self-control, and with Jeff Schwartz on the philosophy of the self.

Active grants

NIH R61MH135400 — Site Principal Investigator. Expedition for new symptom-specific TMS targets: the first randomized causal circuit mapping trial. 2024–2029. NIH Reporter page · methods paper in Contemporary Clinical Trials

Causal Mapping of Bipolar Disorder Symptoms to Human Brain Circuits — Site Principal Investigator. 2025–2030. BD² Announcement

Selected publications

A complete list is available on Google Scholar (2,200+ citations).

Siddiqi SH, Philip NS, Palm ST, Carreon DM, Arulpragasam AR, et al. A potential target for noninvasive neuromodulation of PTSD symptoms derived from focal brain lesions in veterans. Nature Neuroscience. 2024.

Aquadro E, Bomer L, Webler R, Pines A, DeSouza DD, Carreon DM, et al. Expedition for new symptom-specific TMS targets: Protocol for the first randomized causal circuit mapping trial. Contemporary Clinical Trials. 2025.

Trapp NT, Barbour T, Kritzer MD, Pottanat R, Carreon D, et al. Defining a Neurostimulation-Focused Subspecialty: Perspectives Inspired by a Debate at the 2023 Clinical TMS Society Annual Meeting. Academic Psychiatry. 2024.

Cole EJ, Phillips AL, Bentzley BS, ... Carreon DM, ... Williams NR. Stanford Neuromodulation Therapy (SNT): A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2021. The trial establishing SAINT therapy.

McTeague LM, Huemer J, Carreon DM, Jiang Y, Eickhoff SB, Etkin A. Identification of Common Neural Circuit Disruptions in Cognitive Control Across Psychiatric Disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2017.

McTeague LM, Rosenberg BM, Lopez JW, Carreon DM, Huemer J, Jiang Y, Chick CF, Eickhoff SB, Etkin A. Identification of Common Neural Circuit Disruptions in Emotional Processing Across Psychiatric Disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2020.

LaRock E, Schwartz J, Ivanov P, Carreon DM. A Strong Emergence Hypothesis of Conscious Integration and Neural Rewiring. International Philosophical Quarterly. 2020.

Wright B, Blackmon R, Carreon D, Knepper L. Lessons Learned from SoulPulse: A Smartphone-Based ESM Study of Spirituality. In: Bader C, editor. Measuring the Religious Life. NYU Press, 2017.

Carreon D, Schwartz J. Contemporary Models of Intervention Throughout Life's Cycle. In: Kirkcaldy B, editor. The Art and Science of Health Care: Psychology and Human Factors for Practitioners. Edizioni Minerva Medica, 2016.

Key collaborators

  • Shan Siddiqi, MD (Harvard / Brigham and Women's) — circuit mapping for PTSD
  • Noah Philip, MD (Brown University / Providence VA) — PTSD neuromodulation
  • Michael Fox, MD, PhD (Harvard / Brigham and Women's) — lesion network mapping
  • Nolan Williams, MD (Stanford) — SAINT / accelerated TMS
  • Amit Etkin, MD, PhD (Alto Neuroscience; formerly Stanford) — circuit-based psychiatry
  • Danielle DeSouza, MSc, PhD (Acacia Clinics / Stanford) — neuroimaging, VP of Research at Acacia
  • Roy Baumeister, PhD (University of Queensland) — self-control
  • Brad Wright, PhD (University of Connecticut) — SoulPulse, self-control in daily life
  • Jeff Schwartz, MD (UCLA) — philosophy of the self

Research role

I serve as Chief Scientist at Acacia Clinics which collaborates with industry and academic partners on clinical trials in brain stimulation, biomarkers, transcranial focused ultrasound, EEG, and related areas.

I am a founding member of the Brain Stimulation Society and former Clinical Assistant Professor in the Stanford University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.