Alice W Flaherty

Dr. Alice Flaherty is a neurologist and prolific writer most commonly known for her award-winning book about the neural basis of creativity titled the Midnight Disease. She currently works at the Massachusetts General Hospital and in addition assumes the position as assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School [1]. Flaherty writes in all sorts of genres, including “scientific papers, humorous essays, and picture books” [2]. Flaherty is head of the MGH Neurology’s Brain Stimulator Unit, where “she uses deep brain stimulators to treat psychiatric as well as neurological disease. Her research focuses on how our brains represent our bodies, a factor that helps drive suffering in depression, Parkinson’s, and somatoform disorders.” [1]. Her book, The Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of Neurology is the most “widely used neurology text in its class [1]. “Dr. Flaherty completed her A.B., M.D., internship, residency, and fellowship at Harvard. She also completed a Ph.D. at MIT” [1].

Publications:

A. Original Articles'

1. Godley BF, Flaherty AW, Wurtman RJ. The effects of light on retinal dopamine in the rat. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1985;453:383-384.

2. Flaherty AW, Graybiel AM. Corticostriatal transformations in the primate somatosensory system: I. Projections from physiologically-mapped body-part representations. J Neurophys 1991;66:1249-1263.

3. Flaherty AW, Graybiel AM. Two input systems for body representations in the primate striatal matrix: experimental evidence in the squirrel monkey. Neurosci 1993;13:1120-1137.

4. Flaherty AW, Graybiel AM. Output organization of the primate putamen. J Neurosci 1993;13:3222-3237.

5. Flaherty AW, Graybiel AM. Input-output organization of the sensorimotor striatum in the squirrel monkey. J Neurosc. 1994;14:599-610.

6. Graybiel AM, Aosaki T, Flaherty AW , Kimura M. The basal ganglia and adaptive motor control. Science 1994;265:1826-1831.

7. Flaherty AW, Graybiel AM. Motor and somatosensory corticostriatal projections magnifications in the squirrel monkey. J Neurophysiol 1995;74:2638-2647.

8. Scholz VH, Flaherty AW, Kraft E, Keltner JR, Kwong KK, Chen YI, Rosen BR, Jenkins BG. Laterality, somatotopy and reproducibility of the basal ganglia and motor cortex during motor tasks. Brain Res 2000;879:204-15.

9. Kraft E, Flaherty AW, Chen A, Kwong KK, Jenkins BG. Laterality and temporal influences on brain activation during sequential finger movement. Neuroimage 2001;13(6): S1205-S1205 Part 2 Suppl. S.

10. Eskandar EN, Flaherty A, Cosgrove GR, Shinobu LA, Barker FG 2nd. Surgery for Parkinson disease in the United States, 1996 to 2000: practice patterns, short-term outcomes, and hospital charges in a nationwide sample. J Neurosurg 2003;99(5):863-71.

11. Blood AJ, Flaherty AW, Choi J, Hochberg FH, Greve DN, Bonmassar G, Rosen BR, Jenkins BG. Basal ganglia activity remains elevated after movement in focal hand dystonia. Ann Neurol 2004;55:5 744-48.

12. Flaherty AW. Frontotemporal and dopaminergic control of creative drive. J Comparative Neurology 2005;493:147-53.

13. Flaherty AW, Williams ZM, Amirnovin R, Kasper E, Rauch SL, Cosgrove GR, Eskandar EN. Deep brain stimulation of the anterior internal capsule for the treatment of Tourette syndrome: technical case report. Neurosurgery. 2005 Oct;57(4 Suppl):E403-7; discussion E403.

14. Kraft E, Chen AW, Flaherty AW, Blood AJ, Kwong KK, Jenkins BG. 2007. The role of the basal ganglia in bimanual coordination. Brain Res 1151:62-73.

B. Reviews, Chapters, and Editorials'

1. Flaherty, AW. Mirror, mirror…. Science 1989;245(4919): 693-693.

2. Graybiel AM, Flaherty AW, Gimenez-Amaya JM. Striosomes and matrisomes. In Bernardi G, Carpenter MB, Di Chiari G, editors. The Basal Ganglia, III, NY: Plenum Press, 1991.

3. Flaherty AW. Standard laboratory methods. In Beck WS, editor. Hematology, fifth ed. Cambridge, MA: The M.I.T. Press, 1991.

4. Flaherty AW, Graybiel AM. The anatomy of the basal ganglia. In Marsden CD, Fahn S, eds. Movement Disorders, III. Butterworths: London, 1994, pp. 3-28.

5. Flaherty AW. Writing like crazy: a word on the brain. Chronicle of Higher Education 2003;50(13):1-6.

6. Flaherty, AW, Akbarian S, MA Samuels. Movement disorders. In T. A. Stern and J. B. Herman, eds., Psychiatry: Update and Board Preparation, second ed. New York: McGraw Hill 2004.

7. Flaherty, AW, Akbarian S, MA Samuels. Stroke. In T. A. Stern and J. B. Herman, eds., Psychiatry: Update and Board Preparation, second ed. New York: McGraw Hill 2004.

8. Flaherty, AW. Monkey business. The Harvard Medical School Bulletin, autumn 2004.

9. Flaherty, AW. Just got to write this down. The New Scientist, 29 Oct. 2005:48-49.

10. Flaherty, AW. Bedside manners. The Harvard Medical School Bulletin, autumn 2005.

11. Flaherty, AW. Anger. The Harvard Medical School Bulletin, autumn 2006.

12. Flaherty, AW. Movement disorders. In Comprehensive Clinical Psychiatry, Elsevier (in press).

13. Flaherty, AW. Psychosocial effects of deep brain stimulation, or the perils of getting well. Joiurnal Watch Neurology (in press)

14. Flaherty, AW. Medical Fashion. The Harvard Medical School Bulletin, autumn 2006.

15. Gale JT, Amirnovin R, Williams ZM, Flaherty AW, Eskandar EN. From symphony to cacophony: Pathophysiology of the human basal ganglia in Parkinson disease. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2007 Apr 25.

C. Books, Monographs, and Textbooks'

1. Flaherty AW. The Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of Neurology. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 2000.

a. Spanish translation. (Neurologia. Madrid: Marban Libros, 2001).

b. Japanese translation. Tokyo: Medical Sciences International (2001).

c. CD-ROM edition Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins (2002).

d. PDA edition. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins (2003).

e. Second English edition. (in press).

2. Flaherty AW. The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer’s Block, and the Creative Brain. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. Paperback, 2005

a. German trans., K. Fleckenstein. (Die Mitternachtskrankheit - Warum Schriftsteller schreiben müssen. Schreibzwang - Schreibrausch - Schreibblockade und das kreative Gehirn. Berlin: Autorenhaus, 2004).

b. Japanese trans., Toshiko Yoshida. (書きたがる脳 Tokyo: Random House-Kodansha, 2006).

c. Korean translation (in press).

3. Flaherty AW. The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster: A Tale of Picky Eating. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007

4. E. Thesis

1. Flaherty AW. Multiple stages of sensorimotor processing in the primate basal ganglia. MIT, 1992.

2. Flaherty AW. Contributions of motor and somatosensory cortex to movement control in the primate striatum. HMS, 1994.

D. Nonprint Materials.

1. Flaherty AW. CD-ROM edition of The Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of Neurology. Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins, 2002.

2. Flaherty AW. PDA edition of The Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of Neurology. Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins, 2002.

E. Recent Abstracts'

1. Flaherty AW, Lester J, Prady S, Schwamm LS. An interactive portable neurological tool. American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, 2001.

2. Kraft E, Flaherty AW, Chen A, Kwong KK, Jenkins BG. Laterality and temporal influences on brain activation during sequential finger movement. Human Brain Mapping Annual Meeting, Bristol, UK, 2001.

3. Blood AJ, Choi J, Flaherty AW, Bonmassar G, Hochberg F, Greenberg SA, Rosen BR, Young AB, Jenkins BG. Motor activity differences between imagined finger movements in normal controls and patients with focal hand dystonia. Human Brain Mapping Annual Meeting, Sendai, Japan, 2002.

4. Flaherty AW, Eskandar EN, Williams ZM, Cebula CC, Cosgrove GR. Novel mood, creativity, and tic control after anterior internal capsule and nucleus accumbens DBS for Tourette Syndrome. NIH Deep Brain Stimulation Consortium Meeting, Washington DC, 2003.

5. Flaherty AW. Mood and creative state influences on temporal perception. International Psychoanalytical Association Biannual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, 2004.

6. Flaherty AW, Eskandar EN, Williams ZM, Cebula CC, Cosgrove GR. DBS control of tics, mood, and creativity in Tourette Syndrome: Sixteen-month follow-up of internal capsule/accumbens stimulation. American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA 2004.

7. Koss AM, Tramo MJ, Flaherty AW, Young AB. Effect of Auditory Stimulation with Popular Music on Visuomotor Integration and Gait in Parkinson’ s Disease. American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, 2006

8. Flaherty AW, Carson, S, Williams ZM, Amirnovin R, Rauch SL, Cosgrove GR, Eskandar EN. Effects on tics, mood, and productivity during anterior internal capsule stimulation. Tourette Syndrome Association Meeting, Stresa, Italy 2006.

F. Book Reviews and Interviews:

International

New York Times Book Review, 1/11/04

Toronto Globe and Mail, review, 2/28/03

Valor (Brazil), interview and review, 3/04

Associated Press, review, 3/04

Manchester Guardian, review and interview 3/18/04

Science News, review, 9/4/2004

American Journal of Psychiatry, review, 10/04

PLOS Biology, review, 2(2):e47, 2/17/04

Die Welt (Germany), review, 11/13/04

Você S/A (Brazil), interview, 2004

Neue Zürcher Zeitung (Switzerland), review, 2/19/05

BBC online, review, 4/22/05

Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, review, 6/05

De Volkskrant (Netherlands), interview, 5/28/05

Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, review, winter 2005

London Times, interview, 7/07

National

Publishers Weekly, review, 11/10/03

Booklist, review, 11/15/03

Chronicle of Higher Education, first serial, 12/03

Washington Post, review, 1/23/04

Harvard Magazine, interview, 1/04

U.S. News and World Report, interview, 2/9/04

Library Journal, review, 3/1/04

Neurology Today, review, 3/04

ScienCentral online 3/9/04

Identitytheory.com, interview, posted 3/10/04

Harvard Medical School Alumni Bulletin, interview 3/04

Commentary, review, 4/04

The New Yorker, 6/14/04

National Geographic, interview, 3/05

ABC PrimeTime online, interview, 6/30/05

Radcliffe Quarterly, interview, spring 2006

Psychology Today, profile, 5/06

Regional

Boston Globe, interview, 12/16/03

Harvard Medical School Focus, interview, 12/12/03

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, reprint of Globe interview, 1/3/04

Village Voice, interview/review, 1/14/04

San Francisco Chronicle, review, 1/18/04

Harvard University Gazette, interview, 1/19/04

SF Weekly, review, 1/28/04

Seattle Post-Intelligencer, review 1/30/04

Bainbridge Island (WA) Review, 1/04

Sophists.org, reprint of Harvard Gazette interview, 2/3/04

Palo Alto Weekly, 2/4/04

Newsday, review 3/21/04

San Francisco Chronicle, Editor's Pick, 2/1/04 and 2/8/04

Miami Herald, reprint of Washington Post review, 2/8/04

Boston Globe, Sunday review 2/7/04

Denver Rocky Mountain News, review, 2/21/04

Taunton (MA) Herald News, reprint of AP review, 3/29/04

Boston University Daily Free Press, review/article, 3/30/04

Newark Star-Ledger, review, 3/31/04

Salida (CO) Mountain Mail, review, 3/22/04

Boston Globe, review, 4/13/04

Chicago Tribune, review, 5/9/2004

The Triangle, Drexel University, 2/4/05

Mahoney Neuroscience Institute “On the Brain,” interview fall 2006

Boston Magazine, “Smart Boston,” 10/06

References

1. http://www.drclas.harvard.edu/puerto_rico/2007-2008_prwi/flaherty

2. http://www.researchcrossroads.org/Researchers/709697