Simon Little, PhD
Associate Professor
Neurology
School of Medicine

He has a particular interest in using deep brain stimulation (surgically implanted electrodes to regulate areas of the brain that trigger abnormal activity) to treat symptoms such as muscle stiffness, slowness and tremors when they haven't responded to other therapies. Similarly, his research focuses on further developing deep brain stimulation therapies to diagnose and treat neurological conditions, including Parkinson's disease.

Little earned his medical degree at University College London. Remaining in London, he completed a residency in neurology at St. George's Hospital and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, then returned to University College London for a fellowship in neurology. He earned an MRCP(UK) – Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom – diploma in neurology. He also has a doctorate in experimental neurology from the University of Oxford.

• Multi-night cortico-basal recordings reveal mechanisms of NREM slow wave suppression and spontaneous awakenings at high-temporal resolution in Parkinson's disease.
  Research square 2023 Anjum MF, Smyth C, Dijk DJ, Starr P, Denison T, Little S
• Sub-harmonic entrainment of cortical gamma oscillations to deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease: Model based predictions and validation in three human subjects.
  Brain stimulation 2023 Sermon JJ, Olaru M, Ansó J, Cernera S, Little S, Shcherbakova M, Bogacz R, Starr PA, Denison T, Duchet B
• Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation for sleep stage targeting in Parkinson's disease.
  Brain stimulation 2023 Smyth C, Anjum MF, Ravi S, Denison T, Starr P, Little S
• Personalized chronic adaptive deep brain stimulation outperforms conventional stimulation in Parkinson's disease.
  medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences 2023 Oehrn CR, Cernera S, Hammer LH, Shcherbakova M, Yao J, Hahn A, Wang S, Ostrem JL, Little S, Starr PA
• Bringing the Clinic Home: An At-Home Multi-Modal Data Collection Ecosystem to Support Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation.
  Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE 2023 Strandquist G, Fraczek T, Dixon T, Ravi S, Bechtold R, Lawrence D, Zeng A, Gallant J, Little S, Herron J
• Using Neuroscientific and Clinical Context to Assess and Manage Changes in Core Personal Traits Caused by Deep Brain Stimulation.
  AJOB neuroscience 2023 Hoy CW, Little SJ, Chiong W
• Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation: From Experimental Evidence Toward Practical Implementation.
  Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society 2023 Neumann WJ, Gilron R, Little S, Tinkhauser G
• High precision magnetoencephalography reveals increased right-inferior frontal gyrus beta power during response conflict.
  Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior 2022 Daniel PL, Bonaiuto JJ, Bestmann S, Aron AR, Little S
• Cortico-Subthalamic Field Potentials Support Classification of the Natural Gait Cycle in Parkinson's Disease and Reveal Individualized Spectral Signatures.
  eNeuro 2022 Louie KH, Gilron R, Yaroshinsky MS, Morrison MA, Choi J, de Hemptinne C, Little S, Starr PA, Wang DD
• Concurrent stimulation and sensing in bi-directional brain interfaces: a multi-site translational experience.
  Journal of neural engineering 2022 Ansó J, Benjaber M, Parks B, Parker S, Oehrn CR, Petrucci M, Gilron R, Little S, Wilt R, Bronte-Stewart H, Gunduz A, Borton D, Starr PA, Denison T
• Embedding digital chronotherapy into bioelectronic medicines.
  iScience 2022 Fleming JE, Kremen V, Gilron R, Gregg NM, Zamora M, Dijk DJ, Starr PA, Worrell GA, Little S, Denison TJ
• Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank: Advances in Cutting Edge Technologies, Artificial Intelligence, Neuromodulation, Neuroethics, Pain, Interventional Psychiatry, Epilepsy, and Traumatic Brain Injury.
  Frontiers in human neuroscience 2022 Wong JK, Deuschl G, Wolke R, Bergman H, Muthuraman M, Groppa S, Sheth SA, Bronte-Stewart HM, Wilkins KB, Petrucci MN, Lambert E, Kehnemouyi Y, Starr PA, Little S, Anso J, Gilron R, Poree L, …
• Artifact Characterization and a Multipurpose Template-Based Offline Removal Solution for a Sensing-Enabled Deep Brain Stimulation Device.
  Stereotactic and functional neurosurgery 2022 Hammer LH, Kochanski RB, Starr PA, Little S
• Rapid Dynamic Naturalistic Monitoring of Bradykinesia in Parkinson's Disease Using a Wrist-Worn Accelerometer.
  Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) 2021 Habets JGV, Herff C, Kubben PL, Kuijf ML, Temel Y, Evers LJW, Bloem BR, Starr PA, Gilron R, Little S
• Prefrontal Physiomarkers of Anxiety and Depression in Parkinson's Disease.
  Frontiers in neuroscience 2021 de Hemptinne C, Chen W, Racine CA, Seritan AL, Miller AM, Yaroshinsky MS, Wang SS, Gilron R, Little S, Bledsoe I, San Luciano M, Katz M, Chang EF, Dawes HE, Ostrem JL, Starr PA
• Sleep-Aware Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation Control: Chronic Use at Home With Dual Independent Linear Discriminate Detectors.
  Frontiers in neuroscience 2021 Gilron R, Little S, Wilt R, Perrone R, Anso J, Starr PA
• Corrigendum: Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank: Advances in Optogenetics, Ethical Issues Affecting DBS Research, Neuromodulatory Approaches for Depression, Adaptive Neurostimulation, and Emerging DBS Technologies.
  Frontiers in human neuroscience 2021 Vedam-Mai V, Deisseroth K, Giordano J, Lazaro-Munoz G, Chiong W, Suthana N, Langevin JP, Gill J, Goodman W, Provenza NR, Halpern CH, Shivacharan RS, Cunningham TN, Sheth SA, Pouratian N, Scangos KW, …
• The sensitivity of ECG contamination to surgical implantation site in brain computer interfaces.
  Brain stimulation 2021 Neumann WJ, Memarian Sorkhabi M, Benjaber M, Feldmann LK, Saryyeva A, Krauss JK, Contarino MF, Sieger T, Jech R, Tinkhauser G, Pollo C, Palmisano C, Isaias IU, Cummins DD, Little SJ, Starr PA, …
• Laminar dynamics of high amplitude beta bursts in human motor cortex.
  NeuroImage 2021 Bonaiuto JJ, Little S, Neymotin SA, Jones SR, Barnes GR, Bestmann S
• Chronic Sensing of Subthalamic Local Field Potentials: Comparison of First and Second Generation Implantable Bidirectional Systems Within a Single Subject.
  Frontiers in neuroscience 2021 Cummins DD, Kochanski RB, Gilron R, Swann NC, Little S, Hammer LH, Starr PA
• Embedded adaptive deep brain stimulation for cervical dystonia controlled by motor cortex theta oscillations.
  Experimental neurology 2021 Johnson V, Wilt R, Gilron R, Anso J, Perrone R, Beudel M, Piña-Fuentes D, Saal J, Ostrem JL, Bledsoe I, Starr P, Little S
• Analysis-rcs-data: Open-Source Toolbox for the Ingestion, Time-Alignment, and Visualization of Sense and Stimulation Data From the Medtronic Summit RC+S System.
  Frontiers in human neuroscience 2021 Sellers KK, Gilron R, Anso J, Louie KH, Shirvalkar PR, Chang EF, Little SJ, Starr PA
• Long-term wireless streaming of neural recordings for circuit discovery and adaptive stimulation in individuals with Parkinson's disease.
  Nature biotechnology 2021 Gilron R, Little S, Perrone R, Wilt R, de Hemptinne C, Yaroshinsky MS, Racine CA, Wang SS, Ostrem JL, Larson PS, Wang DD, Galifianakis NB, Bledsoe IO, San Luciano M, Dawes HE, Worrell GA, Kremen V, …
• Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank: Advances in Optogenetics, Ethical Issues Affecting DBS Research, Neuromodulatory Approaches for Depression, Adaptive Neurostimulation, and Emerging DBS Technologies.
  Frontiers in human neuroscience 2021 Vedam-Mai V, Deisseroth K, Giordano J, Lazaro-Munoz G, Chiong W, Suthana N, Langevin JP, Gill J, Goodman W, Provenza NR, Halpern CH, Shivacharan RS, Cunningham TN, Sheth SA, Pouratian N, Scangos KW, …
• The Neurophysiology of Sleep in Parkinson's Disease.
  Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society 2021 Zahed H, Zuzuarregui JRP, Gilron R, Denison T, Starr PA, Little S
• A space-time continuum in DBS: structural and functional advances in Parkinson's disease.
  Brain : a journal of neurology 2021 Starr P, Little S
• Acute effects of adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation in Parkinson's disease.
  Brain stimulation 2020 Piña-Fuentes D, van Dijk JMC, van Zijl JC, Moes HR, van Laar T, Oterdoom DLM, Little S, Brown P, Beudel M
• Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank: Advances in Neurophysiology, Adaptive DBS, Virtual Reality, Neuroethics and Technology.
  Frontiers in human neuroscience 2020 Ramirez-Zamora A, Giordano J, Gunduz A, Alcantara J, Cagle JN, Cernera S, Difuntorum P, Eisinger RS, Gomez J, Long S, Parks B, Wong JK, Chiu S, Patel B, Grill WM, Walker HC, Little SJ, Gilron R, …
• Prefrontal-Subthalamic Hyperdirect Pathway Modulates Movement Inhibition in Humans.
  Neuron 2020 Chen W, de Hemptinne C, Miller AM, Leibbrand M, Little SJ, Lim DA, Larson PS, Starr PA
• Debugging Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson's Disease.
  Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society 2020 Little S, Brown P
• Human motor cortical beta bursts relate to movement planning and response errors.
  PLoS biology 2019 Little S, Bonaiuto J, Barnes G, Bestmann S
• Adaptive deep brain stimulation as advanced Parkinson's disease treatment (ADAPT study): protocol for a pseudo-randomised clinical study.
  BMJ open 2019 Piña-Fuentes D, Beudel M, Little S, Brown P, Oterdoom DLM, van Dijk JMC
• Phase-Dependent Suppression of Beta Oscillations in Parkinson's Disease Patients.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2018 Holt AB, Kormann E, Gulberti A, Pötter-Nerger M, McNamara CG, Cagnan H, Baaske MK, Little S, Köppen JA, Buhmann C, Westphal M, Gerloff C, Engel AK, Brown P, Hamel W, Moll CKE, Sharott A
• The characteristics of pallidal low-frequency and beta bursts could help implementing adaptive brain stimulation in the parkinsonian and dystonic internal globus pallidus.
  Neurobiology of disease 2018 Piña-Fuentes D, van Zijl JC, van Dijk JMC, Little S, Tinkhauser G, Oterdoom DLM, Tijssen MAJ, Beudel M
• Toward adaptive deep brain stimulation for dystonia.
  Neurosurgical focus 2018 Piña-Fuentes D, Beudel M, Little S, van Zijl J, Elting JW, Oterdoom DLM, van Egmond ME, van Dijk JMC, Tijssen MAJ
• Parkinsonian Tremor Detection from Subthalamic Nucleus Local Field Potentials for Closed-Loop Deep Brain Stimulation.
  Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual International Conference 2018 Shah SA, Tinkhauser G, Chen CC, Little S, Brown P
• Alternating Modulation of Subthalamic Nucleus Beta Oscillations during Stepping.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2018 Fischer P, Chen CC, Chang YJ, Yeh CH, Pogosyan A, Herz DM, Cheeran B, Green AL, Aziz TZ, Hyam J, Little S, Foltynie T, Limousin P, Zrinzo L, Hasegawa H, Samuel M, Ashkan K, Brown P, Tan H
• Mechanisms Underlying Decision-Making as Revealed by Deep-Brain Stimulation in Patients with Parkinson's Disease.
  Current biology : CB 2018 Herz DM, Little S, Pedrosa DJ, Tinkhauser G, Cheeran B, Foltynie T, Bogacz R, Brown P
• Adaptive Brain Stimulation for Movement Disorders.
  Progress in neurological surgery 2018 Beudel M, Cagnan H, Little S
• Subthalamic nucleus gamma activity increases not only during movement but also during movement inhibition.
  eLife 2017 Fischer P, Pogosyan A, Herz DM, Cheeran B, Green AL, Fitzgerald J, Aziz TZ, Hyam J, Little S, Foltynie T, Limousin P, Zrinzo L, Brown P, Tan H
• Adaptive DBS in a Parkinson's patient with chronically implanted DBS: A proof of principle.
  Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society 2017 Piña-Fuentes D, Little S, Oterdoom M, Neal S, Pogosyan A, Tijssen MAJ, van Laar T, Brown P, van Dijk JMC, Beudel M
• The modulatory effect of adaptive deep brain stimulation on beta bursts in Parkinson's disease.
  Brain : a journal of neurology 2017 Tinkhauser G, Pogosyan A, Little S, Beudel M, Herz DM, Tan H, Brown P
• Subthalamic nucleus beta and gamma activity is modulated depending on the level of imagined grip force.
  Experimental neurology 2017 Fischer P, Pogosyan A, Cheeran B, Green AL, Aziz TZ, Hyam J, Little S, Foltynie T, Limousin P, Zrinzo L, Hariz M, Samuel M, Ashkan K, Brown P, Tan H
• Distinct mechanisms mediate speed-accuracy adjustments in cortico-subthalamic networks.
  eLife 2017 Herz DM, Tan H, Brittain JS, Fischer P, Cheeran B, Green AL, FitzGerald J, Aziz TZ, Ashkan K, Little S, Foltynie T, Limousin P, Zrinzo L, Bogacz R, Brown P
• Stimulating at the right time: phase-specific deep brain stimulation.
  Brain : a journal of neurology 2016 Cagnan H, Pedrosa D, Little S, Pogosyan A, Cheeran B, Aziz T, Green A, Fitzgerald J, Foltynie T, Limousin P, Zrinzo L, Hariz M, Friston KJ, Denison T, Brown P
• Spectral power changes prior to psychogenic non-epileptic seizures: a pilot study.
  Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry 2016 Meppelink AM, Pareés I, Beudel M, Little S, Yogarajah M, Sisodiya S, Edwards MJ
• Adaptive deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease demonstrates reduced speech side effects compared to conventional stimulation in the acute setting.
  Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry 2016 Little S, Tripoliti E, Beudel M, Pogosyan A, Cagnan H, Herz D, Bestmann S, Aziz T, Cheeran B, Zrinzo L, Hariz M, Hyam J, Limousin P, Foltynie T, Brown P
• Decisions Made with Less Evidence Involve Higher Levels of Corticosubthalamic Nucleus Theta Band Synchrony.
  Journal of cognitive neuroscience 2016 Zavala B, Tan H, Little S, Ashkan K, Green AL, Aziz T, Foltynie T, Zrinzo L, Zaghloul K, Brown P
• Bilateral adaptive deep brain stimulation is effective in Parkinson's disease.
  Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry 2015 Little S, Beudel M, Zrinzo L, Foltynie T, Limousin P, Hariz M, Neal S, Cheeran B, Cagnan H, Gratwicke J, Aziz TZ, Pogosyan A, Brown P
• Tremor Reduction by Deep Brain Stimulation Is Associated With Gamma Power Suppression in Parkinson's Disease.
  Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society 2015 Beudel M, Little S, Pogosyan A, Ashkan K, Foltynie T, Limousin P, Zrinzo L, Hariz M, Bogdanovic M, Cheeran B, Green AL, Aziz T, Thevathasan W, Brown P
• Excessive neural synchrony in Machado-Joseph disease responsive to subthalamic nucleus stimulation.
  Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society 2015 Anzak A, Little S, Hulse N, Andrews T, Brown P, Samuel M, Ashkan K
• The nature of tremor circuits in parkinsonian and essential tremor.
  Brain : a journal of neurology 2014 Cagnan H, Little S, Foltynie T, Limousin P, Zrinzo L, Hariz M, Cheeran B, Fitzgerald J, Green AL, Aziz T, Brown P
• Controlling Parkinson's disease with adaptive deep brain stimulation.
  Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE 2014 Little S, Pogosyan A, Neal S, Zrinzo L, Hariz M, Foltynie T, Limousin P, Brown P
• Midline frontal cortex low-frequency activity drives subthalamic nucleus oscillations during conflict.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2014 Zavala BA, Tan H, Little S, Ashkan K, Hariz M, Foltynie T, Zrinzo L, Zaghloul KA, Brown P
• The functional role of beta oscillations in Parkinson's disease.
  Parkinsonism & related disorders 2014 Little S, Brown P
• Bilateral functional connectivity of the basal ganglia in patients with Parkinson's disease and its modulation by dopaminergic treatment.
  PloS one 2013 Little S, Tan H, Anzak A, Pogosyan A, Kühn A, Brown P
• Phase dependent modulation of tremor amplitude in essential tremor through thalamic stimulation.
  Brain : a journal of neurology 2013 Cagnan H, Brittain JS, Little S, Foltynie T, Limousin P, Zrinzo L, Hariz M, Joint C, Fitzgerald J, Green AL, Aziz T, Brown P
• Adaptive deep brain stimulation in advanced Parkinson disease.
  Annals of neurology 2013 Little S, Pogosyan A, Neal S, Zavala B, Zrinzo L, Hariz M, Foltynie T, Limousin P, Ashkan K, FitzGerald J, Green AL, Aziz TZ, Brown P
• Telemedicine for peer-to-peer psychiatry learning between U.K. and Somaliland medical students.
  Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry 2013 Keynejad R, Ali FR, Finlayson AE, Handuleh J, Adam G, Bowen JS, Leather A, Little SJ, Whitwell S
• What brain signals are suitable for feedback control of deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease?
  Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2012 Little S, Brown P
• A torque-based method demonstrates increased rigidity in Parkinson's disease during low-frequency stimulation.
  Experimental brain research 2012 Little S, Joundi RA, Tan H, Pogosyan A, Forrow B, Joint C, Green AL, Aziz TZ, Brown P
• An international, case-based, distance-learning collaboration between the UK and Somaliland using a real-time clinical education website.
  Journal of telemedicine and telecare 2010 Finlayson AE, Baraco A, Cronin N, Johnson O, Little S, Nuur A, Tanasie D, Leather A