Faculty

Peter J. Fried, PhD

Peter J. Fried, PhD
Associate Director for Research
Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
Co-Director, Core for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation

Education History:
Ph.D., Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine

In 2013, Dr. Fried obtained his Ph.D. in Anatomy and Neurobiology from Boston University School of Medicine. His dissertation combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate the functional organization of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and other brain regions responsible for working memory in humans.

From 2013-2015, Dr. Fried completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the BA-CNBS under Dr. Alvaro Pascual-Leone. This work focused on evaluating alterations in the mechanisms of cortical plasticity in older adults with type-2 diabetes mellitus, which is a major risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.

In 2022, Dr. Fried was appointed Assistant Professor of Neurology in 2022 and Associate Director for Research of the Berenson-Allen Center. He also serves as Co-Director of the Core for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation and oversees the training program in TMS and the fundamentals of neurophysiology for new fellows and research assistants at the BA-CNBS.

Research Interests:
Dr. Fried’s interests are focused on using TMS in conjunction with electromyography (EMG) and electroencephalography (EEG) This knowledge has the potential to improve public health by characterizing reliable and potentially modifiable markers of cerebral function that could be translated into novel therapeutic targets for interventions to improve cognition and reduce the risk of developing dementia.

Dr. Fried has a second line of applied research to evaluate the reliability and optimize the efficacy of noninvasive brain stimulation techniques such as TMS and transcranial electric stimulation as assessments of neurophysiology and the mechanisms of brain plasticity in humans.

Dr. Fried is Principal Investigator of the following ongoing studies:

• 2020-2023: Evaluating cortical excitability and plasticity as markers of preclinical AD BrightFocus Foundation – A20201288S
  This study is investigating TMS measures of cortical excitability and plasticity in cognitively normal older adults at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease.
• 2021-2026: Neurobiological mechanisms of altered cortical plasticity in Type-2 diabetes mellitus NIH – NIA/R01 AG070077-01
  This study investigates TMS measures of cortical plasticity and MRS measures of glutamate metabolism in cognitively normal older adults with Type-2 diabetes.

Featured Published Work:

• Fried PJ, Schilberg L, Brem A-K, Saxena S, Wong B, Cypess AM, Horton ES, Pascual-Leone A. Humans with Type-2 Diabetes Show Abnormal Long-Term Potentiation-Like Cortical Plasticity Associated with Verbal Learning Deficits. J Alzheimers Dis. 2017;55(1):89–100. https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-160505.
• Fried PJ, Jannati A, Davila-Pérez P, Pascual-Leone A. Reproducibility of Single-Pulse, Paired-Pulse, and Intermittent Theta-Burst TMS Measures in Healthy Aging, Type-2 Diabetes, and Alzheimer’s Disease. Front Aging Neurosci. 2017;9:263. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2017.00263.
• Buss SS, Padmanabhan J, Saxena S, Pascual-Leone A, Fried PJ. Atrophy in Distributed Networks Predicts Cognition in Alzheimer's Disease and Type 2 Diabetes. J Alzheimers Dis. 2018;65(4):1301-1312. https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-180570.
• Menardi A, Pascual-Leone A, Fried PJ*, Santarnecchi E*. The Role of Cognitive Reserve in Alzheimer's Disease and Aging: A Multi-Modal Imaging Review. J Alzheimers Dis. 2018;66(4):1341-1362.https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-180549.
• Buss SS*, Fried PJ*, Pascual-Leone A. Therapeutic noninvasive brain stimulation in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Curr Opin Neurol. 2019 Apr;32(2):292-304. https://doi.org/10.1097/WCO.0000000000000669.
• Fried PJ, Pascual-Leone A, Bolo NR. Diabetes and the link between neuroplasticity and glutamate in the aging human motor cortex. Clin Neurophysiol. 2019;130(9):1502–1510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2019.04.721.
• Benwell CSY*, Davila-Pérez P*, Fried PJ*, Jones RN, Travison TG, Santarnecchi E, Pascual-Leone A, Shafi MM. EEG spectral power abnormalities and their relationship with cognitive dysfunction in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes. Neurobiol Aging. 2020;85:83–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2019.10.004.
• Buss SS, Press DZ, McDonald K, Kitchener E, O’Connor M, Donohoe K, Shafi MM, Pascual-Leone A*, Fried PJ*. LTP-like plasticity is impaired in amyloid-positive amnestic MCI but independent of PET-amyloid burden. Neurobiol. Aging. 2020. In Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2020.08.021.
• Zadey S, Buss SS, McDonald K, Press DZ, Pascual-Leone A, Fried PJ. Higher motor cortical excitability linked to greater cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease: results from two independent cohorts. LTP-like plasticity is impaired in amyloid-positive amnestic MCI but independent of PET-amyloid burden. Neurobiology of Aging. 2021;108:24–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.06.007.
• Hinchman CA*, Fried PJ*, Jannati A, Press DZ, Pascual-Leone A, Stern AP. Corticomotor plasticity as a predictor of response to high frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment for major depressive disorder. J Affect Disord. 2022;303:114-122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.02.005

Complete List of Published Work in MyBibliography:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1lKG2ZKzXLJAH/bibliography/public/.