Michael Minzenberg, MD

Psychiatrist

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More about Michael Minzenberg, MD

Dr. Michael Minzenberg is a Board-Certified Psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of treatment-resistant depression and using interventional (Neuromodulation) modalities such as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), esketamine nasal spray, and intravenous ketamine infusions.

Dr. Minzenberg’s approach involves careful consideration of accuracy in diagnosis and the treatment options available for each patient, decision-making supported by the best clinical evidence and the goals and needs of individual patients, and close monitoring of the patient’s experience during the course of treatment, with open communication throughout this process.

Personal Interests

Dr. Minzenberg is a California native, spreading his adult years across the major locales in the state, such as the SF Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento. He also completed some of his education and training in Montreal and New York City. He is an avid music fan (across many generations of popular music), with a formative experience as a disc jockey at KDVS, his undergraduate radio station at UC Davis. These days, when he is not working with patients or on research projects, he can be found with his family at local music venues, sampling the rich and varied cuisine available in the Bay Area, or seeking out cool-climate wines from the Central Coast, Sonoma Coast and Willamette Valley.

Education & Experience

Dr. Minzenberg has previously directed or supported Neuromodulation programs (offering TMS and ketamine treatment) at the San Diego VA Medical Center, UCLA, and in private practice. He has deep prior experience in clinical psychopharmacology, with varied clinical expertise, teaching & research in clinical psychopharmacology, including an extensive record of peer-reviewed publications in this area. His research program (at UCSF, UCD, UCLA & Mount Sinai) has been primarily dedicated to using brain imaging and EEG to understand how novel psychiatric treatments work, how to identify the best treatments for individual patients, and how to monitor their effects. He has served on the medical school faculty of UCSF, UCSD & UCD, and he has teaching and mentoring experience in 5 medical schools, for psychiatry residents, fellows, graduate students, medical students, and nurse practitioner trainees.

He previously served as Medical Director in 4 varied clinical services: specialty outpatient programs such as the first-episode psychosis programs at UC Davis and the Felton Institute; a Psychiatric Health Facility (Crestwood Solano in Vallejo), and Mental Health Rehabilitation Center (Telecare Gladman in Oakland). This has provided him with direct knowledge of the broad range of needs experienced by diverse psychiatric patients.

Certifications & Memberships

  • Medical Licensure, California
  • Medical Licensure, New York
  • Board Certification, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Inc.
  • Licensure, Drug Enforcement Administration
  • Member, Clinical TMS Society
  • Member, International Brain Stimulation Society
  • Member, American Psychiatric Association
  • Member, Anxiety and Depression Association of America
  • Member, International Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Foundation

Publications

1.*        Auerbach SB, Minzenberg MJ, Wilkinson LO (1989) Extracellular serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in hypothalamus of the unanesthetized rat measured by in vivo dialysis coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection: dialysate serotonin reflects neuronal release. Brain Res 499: 281-290.

  1. Minzenberg M, Berkelaar M, Bray G, McKerracher L (1995) Changes in retinal ganglion cell axons after optic nerve crush: neurofilament expression is not the sole determinant of calibre. Biochem Cell Biol 73 (9-10): 599-604.

3.*        Minzenberg MJ, Ober BA, Vinogradov S (2002) Semantic priming in schizophrenia: a review and synthesis. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 8(5): 699-720.

  1. Minzenberg MJ, Poole JH, Shenaut GK, Ober BA, Vinogradov S (2003) Slowed access to semantic memory in schizophrenia is uniquely associated with positive and disorganized symptoms. Cogn Neuropsychiatry 8 (2): 107-127.

5.*        Minzenberg MJ, Poole JH, Benton C, Vinogradov S (2004) Association of anticholinergic load with impairment of complex attention and memory in schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry 161(1): 116-24.

6.*        Hazlett EA, New AS, Newmark R, Haznedar MM, Lo JN, Speiser LJ, Chen AD, Mitropoulou V, Minzenberg M, Siever LJ, Buchsbaum MS (2005) Reduced anterior and posterior cingulate gray matter in borderline personality disorder. Biol Psychiatry 58(8):614-23.

  1. Minzenberg MJ, Grossman R, New AS, Mitropoulou V, Yehuda R, Goodman M, Reynolds D, Silverman J, Coccaro E, Marcus S, Siever LJ (2006) Blunted hormone responses to ipsapirone are associated with trait impulsivity in personality disorder patients. Neuropsychopharmacology 31(1):197-203.
  2. Minzenberg MJ, Fisher-Irving M, Poole JH, Vinogradov S (2006) Reduced self-referential source memory performance is related to interpersonal dysfunction in borderline personality disorder. J Pers Disord 20 (1): 42-54.

9.*        Minzenberg MJ, Poole JH, Vinogradov S (2006) Adult social attachment disturbance is related to childhood maltreatment and current symptoms in borderline personality disorder. J Nerv Ment Dis 194 (5):341-8.

10.*      Hazlett EA, Spieser LJ, Goodman M, Roy M, Carrizal M, Wynn JK, Williams WC, Romero M, Minzenberg MJ, Siever LJ, New AS (2007) Exaggerated affect-modulated startle during unpleasant stimuli in borderline personality disorder. Biological Psychiatry 62: 250-255.

11.*      Minzenberg MJ, Poole JH, Vinogradov S (2006) Social-emotion recognition in borderline personality disorder. Compr Psychiatr 47(6):468-74.

  1. Minzenberg MJ, Xu K, Mitropoulou V, Harvey PD, Finch T, Flory JD, New AS, Goldman D, Siever LJ (2006) Catechol-O-methyltransferase genotype variation is associated with prefrontal-dependent task performance in schizotypal personality disorder. Psychiatr Genet 16 (3):117-24.
  2. McClure MM, Barch DM, Romero MJ, Minzenberg MJ, Treibwasser J, Harvey PD, Siever LJ (2007) The Effects of Guanfacine on Context Processing Abnormalities in Schizotypal Personality Disorder. Biological Psychiatry 61(10):1157-60.

14.*      Ragland JD, Yoon J, Minzenberg MJ, Carter CS (2007). Neuroimaging of cognitive disability in schizophrenia: Search for a pathophysiological model. Internat Rev Psychiatry 19(4): 419-429.

15.*      Minzenberg MJ, Fan J, New AS, Tang CY, Siever LJ (2007) Frontolimbic dysfunction in response to facial emotion in borderline personality disorder: an event-related fMRI study. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging 231-243.

  1. Minzenberg MJ, Carter CS (2007) The Quest for Developing New Treatments from Imaging Techniques: Promises, Problems and Future Potential. Expert Opin Invest Drugs 2(8): 1029-1033.

17.*      Minzenberg MJ, Fan J, New AS, Tang CY, Siever LJ (2008) Frontolimbic structural changes in borderline personality disorder. Journal of Psychiatric Research 42(9):727-33.

18.*      Minzenberg MJ, Poole JH, Vinogradov S (2008) A neurocognitive model of borderline personality disorder: effects of childhood sexual abuse and relationship to adult social attachment disturbance. Development and Psychopathology 20(1):341-68.

19.*      Minzenberg MJ, Carter CS (2008). Modafinil: A review of neurochemical actions and effects on cognition. Neuropsychopharmacology 33(7):1477-502.

20.*      Ranganath C, Minzenberg MJ, Ragland JD (2008) The Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory Function and Dysfunction in Schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry 64(1):18-25.

21.*      Yoon JH, Minzenberg MJ, Ursu S, Walters R, Ragland JD, Carter CS (2008). Association of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex dysfunction with disrupted coordinated brain activity in schizophrenia: relationship to impaired cognition, behavioral disorganization and global function. American Journal of Psychiatry 165(8):1006-14.

  1. Yoon JH, Tamir D, Minzenberg MJ, Ursu S, Ragland JD, Carter CS (2008) Multivariate pattern analysis of fMRI data reveals deficits in distributed representations in schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry 64(12):1035-41.

23.*      Minzenberg MJ, Watrous AJ, Yoon JH, Ursu S, Carter CS (2008). Modafinil Shifts Human Locus Coeruleus to Low-Tonic, High-Phasic Activity During Functional MRI.

Science 322(5908):1700-2.

24.*      Yoon JH, Rokem AS, Silver MA, Minzenberg MJ, Carter CS (2009). Diminished Orientation-Specific Surround Suppression of Visual Processing in Schizophrenia Implicating a Deficit in Cortical Inhibition. Schizophr Bull 35(6):1078-84.

25.*      Minzenberg MJ, Laird AR, Thelen S, Carter CS, Glahn DC (2009). Meta-Analysis of 41 Functional Neuroimaging Studies of Executive Function in Schizophrenia. Archives of Gen Psychiatry 66(8):811-22.

  1. Minzenberg MJ, Watrous AJ, Yoon JH, La C, Ursu S, Carter CS (2010). Response to Comment on “Modafinil Shifts Human Locus Coeruleus to Low-Tonic, High-Phasic Activity During fMRI.” Science 328: 309.

27.*      Yoon JH, Maddock RJ, Rokem A, Silver MA, Minzenberg MJ, Ragland JD, Carter CS (2010). GABA concentration is reduced in visual cortex in schizophrenia and correlates with orientation-specific surround suppression. J. Neuroscience 30(10):3777-81.

28.*      Minzenberg MJ, Firl AJ, Yoon JH, Gomes GC, Reinking C, Carter CS (2010). Gamma Oscillatory Power is Impaired During Cognitive Control Independent of Medication Status in First-Episode Schizophrenia. Neuropsychopharmacology 35(13):2590-9.

29.*      Lesh T, Niendam T, Minzenberg MJ, Carter CS (2011). Cognitive Control Deficits in Schizophrenia: Mechanisms and Meaning. Neuropsychopharmacology 36(1):316-38.

  1. Fan J, Gu X, Liu X, Guise K, Park Y, Martin L, de Marchena A, Tang C, Minzenberg MJ, Hof P (2011). Involvement of the anterior cingulate and frontoinsular cortices in rapid processing of salient facial emotional information. NeuroImage 54(3):2539-2546.

31.*      Ursu S, Kring AM, Gard MG, Minzenberg MJ, Yoon JH, Ragland JD, Solomon M, Carter CS (2011). Prefrontal cortical deficits and impaired cognition-emotion interactions in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry 168(3):276-85.

  1. Minzenberg MJ, Yoon JH (2011). An Index of Relative Central Alpha-Adrenergic Receptor Antagonism by Antipsychotic Medications. Exp Clin Psychopharmacology 19(1):31-9.
  2. Minzenberg MJ, Yoon JH, Carter CS (2011). Modafinil modulation of the default mode network. Psychopharmacology 215(1):23-31.

34.*      Caldwell JG, Shaver PR, Li C-S, Minzenberg MJ (2011). Childhood Maltreatment, Adult Attachment, and Depression as Predictors of Parental Self-Efficacy in At-Risk Mothers. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 20 (6) 595-616.

35.*      Solomon MS, Olsen EK, Niendam TA, Ragland JD, Yoon JH, Minzenberg MJ, Carter CS (2011). From lumping to splitting and back again: Atypical social and language development in individuals with clinical-high-risk for psychosis, first episode schizophrenia, and autism spectrum disorders. Schizophrenia Research 131(1-3):146-51.

  1. Rokem A, Yoon JH, Ooms RE, Maddock RJ, Minzenberg MJ, Silver MA (2011). Broader visual orientation tuning in patients with schizophrenia. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 5:127.
  2. Carter CS, Minzenberg M, West R, MacDonald A 3rd (2012). CNTRICS Imaging Biomarker Selections: Executive Control Paradigms. Schizophrenia Bulletin 38(1):34-42.

38.*      Minzenberg MJ, Carter CS (2011). Developing Treatments for Impaired Cognition in Schizophrenia. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 16(1):35-42.

  1. Yoon JH, Nguyen DV, McVay LM, Minzenberg MJ, Ragland JD, Niendam TA, Carter CS (2012) Automated classification of the disorganized phenotype in schizophrenia using fMRI data. Schizophrenia Research 135(1-3):28-33.
  2. Minzenberg MJ, Yoon JH, Soosman SK, Carter CS (2012). Excessive Contralateral Motor Overflow in Schizophrenia Measured by fMRI. Psychiatry Res: Neuroimaging 202(1):38-45.
  3. Minzenberg MJ (2012). Pharmacotherapy for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: From Cells to Circuits. Neurotherapeutics 9(3):610-621.
  4. Geng JJ, Soosman S, Sun Y, DiQuattro NE, Stankevitch B, Minzenberg MJ (2013). A match made by modafinil: strategies of probabilistic sampling in choice decisions and spatial attention. J Cog Neurosci 25(5):657-669.

43.*      Yoon JH, Minzenberg MJ, Raouf S, D’Esposito M, Carter CS (2013) Impaired prefrontostriatonigral functional connectivity and substantia nigra hyperactivity in schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry 74(2):122-129.

  1. Caldwell J, Krug M, Carter CS, Minzenberg MJ (2014) Cognitive Control in the Face of Fear: Reduced Cognitive-Emotional Flexibility in Women with a History of Child Abuse. J Aggress Maltreatment and Trauma 23:5, 454-472.

45.*      Lesh TA, Westphal AJ, Niendam TA, Yoon JH, Minzenberg MJ, Ragland JD, Solomon M, Carter, CS (2013). Proactive and Reactive Cognitive Control and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Dysfunction in First Episode Schizophrenia. NeuroImage Clinical 2:590-599.

  1. Niendam TA, Lesh TA, Ragland JD, Solomon M, Yoon JH, Minzenberg MJ, Carter CS (2014). Impaired context processing as a potential marker of psychosis risk state. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging 221(1):13-20.
  2. Minzenberg MJ, Gomes GC, Yoon JH, Swaab TY, Carter CS (2014). Disrupted action monitoring in recent-onset psychosis patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging 221(1):114-121.
  3. Minzenberg MJ, Gomes GC, Yoon JH, Watrous AJ, Geng JJ, Firl AJ, Carter CS (2014).

Modafinil Augments Oscillatory Power in Middle-Frequencies During Rule Selection. Psychophysiology 51(6):510-519.

  1. Minzenberg MJ, Lesh TA, Niendam TA, Yoon JH, Rhoades RN, Carter CS (2014). Frontal Cortex Control Dysfunction Related to Long-Term Suicide Risk in Recent-Onset Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research 157(1-3):19-25.
  2. Minzenberg MJ, Yoon JH, Cheng Y, Carter CS (2014). Modafinil Effects on Middle-Frequency Oscillatory Power During Rule Selection in Schizophrenia. Neuropsychopharm 39 (13): 3018-3026.
  3. Mote J, Minzenberg MJ, Carter CS, Kring AM (2014). Deficits in anticipatory but not consummatory pleasure in people with recent-onset schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Schizophrenia Research 159 (1): 76-79.

  1. Yoon JH, Westphal AJ, Minzenberg MJ, Niendam TA, Ragland JD, Lesh TA, Solomon M, Carter, CS (2014). Task-evoked substantia nigra hyperactivity associated with prefrontal hypofunction, prefrontonigral disconnectivity and nigrostriatal connectivity predicting psychosis severity in medication naïve first episode schizophrenia. Schizophr Research 159 (2-3): 521-526.
  2. Poppe A, Carter CS, Minzenberg MJ, MacDonald AW III (2015). Task-based Functional Connectivity as an Indicator of Genetic Liability to Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research 162(1-3):118-123.
  3. Yoon JH, Larson P, Grandelis A, La C, Cui E, Carter CS, Minzenberg MJ (2015). Delay Period Activity of the Substantia Nigra During Proactive Control of Response Selection as Determined by a Novel fMRI Localization Method. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 27(6):1238-1248.

55.*      Lesh TA, Tanase C, Geib BR, Niendam TA, Yoon JH, Minzenberg MJ, Ragland JD, Solomon M, Carter CS (2015). A Multimodal Analysis of Antipsychotic Effects on Brain Structure and Function in First-Episode Schizophrenia. JAMA Psychiatry 72(3):226-234.

  1. Minzenberg MJ, Lesh TA, Niendam TA, Yoon JH, Cheng Y, Rhoades RN, Carter CS (2015 Prefrontal Motor Cortex Activity During Reactive Control is Associated with Past Suicidal Behavior in Recent-Onset Schizophrenia. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention 36(5):363-70.
  2. Minzenberg MJ, Lesh T, Niendam T, Yoon JH, Cheng Y, Rhoades RN, Carter CS (2015). Conflict-Related Anterior Cingulate Functional Connectivity is Associated with Past Suicidal Ideation and Behavior in Recent-Onset Schizophrenia. Journal of Psychiatric Research 65:95-101.
  3. Geng JJ, Blumenfeld Z, Tyson TL, Minzenberg MJ (2015). Pupil diameter reflects uncertainty in attentional selection during visual search. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 9:435.
  4. Minzenberg MJ, Lesh TA, Niendam TA, Yoon JH, Cheng Y, Rhoades RN, Carter CS (2015). Control-Related Frontal-Striatal Function is Associated with Past Suicidal Ideation and Behavior in Patients with Recent-Onset Psychotic Major Mood Disorders. Journal of Affective Disorders 188:202-209.
  5. Minzenberg MJ, Yoon JH, Cheng Y, Carter CS (2016). Sustained Modafinil Treatment Effects on Control-Related Gamma Oscillatory Power in Schizophrenia. Neuropsychopharmacology 41(5): 1231-1240.
  6. Minzenberg MJ, Lesh TA, Niendam TA, Cheng Y, Carter CS (2016). Conflict-Related Anterior Cingulate Functional Connectivity is Associated with Past Suicidal Ideation and Behavior in Recent-Onset Psychotic Major Mood Disorders. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 28(4): 299-305.
  7. Kobayashi B, Cook IA, Hunter AM, Minzenberg MJ, Krantz DE, Leuchter AF (2017). Can neurophysiologic measures serve as biomarkers for the efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment of major depressive disorder? Int Rev Psychiatry 31:1-17.
  8. Hunter AM, Nghiem TX, Cook IA, Krantz DE, Minzenberg MJ, Leuchter AF (2018). Change in Quantitative EEG Theta Cordance as a Potential Predictor of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Clinical Outcome in Major Depressive Disorder. Clin EEG Neurosci 49(5):306-315.
  9. Minzenberg MJ, Yoon JH, Soosman SK, Carter CS (2018). Altered Brainstem Responses to Modafinil in Schizophrenia: Implications for Adjunctive Treatment of Cognition. Translational Psychiatry 8(1): 58.
  10. Yoon JH, Cui E, Minzenberg MJ, Carter CS (2019). Subthalamic Nucleus Activation Occurs Early during Stopping and Is Associated with Trait Impulsivity. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 31(4):510-521.
  11. Chari S, Minzenberg MJ, Solomon M, Ragland JD, Carter CS, Yoon JH (2019). Impaired prefrontal functional connectivity despite intact activations in schizophrenia; associations with WM performance and disorganization. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging 287:10-18.
  12. Corlier J, Wilson A, Hunter AM, Vince-Cruz N, Krantz D, Levitt J, Minzenberg MJ, Ginder N, Cook IA, Leuchter AF (2019). Acute Changes in Neurophysiologic Connectivity Predict Outcome of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder. Cereb Cortex 29(12):4958-4967. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhz035.
  13. Hunter AM, Minzenberg MJ (co-primary author), Cook IA, Krantz DE, Levitt JG, Rotstein NM, Chawla SA, Leuchter AF (2019). Concomitant medication use and clinical outcome of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation treatment of Major Depressive Disorder. Brain & Behavior 9(5): e01275.
  14. Levitt J, Kalender G, O’Neil J, Diaz JP, Vince-Cruz N, Nguyen LD, Cook IA, Ginder N, Krantz D, Minzenberg MJ, Alger JR, Leuchter AF (2019). Dorsolateral prefrontal gamma-aminobutyric acid in treatment-resistant depression after transcranial magnetic stimulation measured with magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience 44(4):1-9.
  15. Minzenberg MJ, Leuchter AF (2019). Modulation of cortical excitability and plasticity with transcranial magnetic stimulation: the effect of psychotropic drugs, and implications for psychiatric treatment. Journal of Affective Disorders 253:126-140.
  16. Minzenberg MJ, Yoon JH (2020). Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: A Clinical Primer for Non-Experts. J Psychiatr Pract. 26(5):423-428. doi: 10.1097/PRA.0000000000000490.
  17. Yoon JH, Maddock RJ, DongBo Cui E, Minzenberg MJ, Niendam TA, Lesh T, Solomon M, Ragland JD, Carter C (2020). Reduced in vivo visual cortex GABA in schizophrenia, a replication in a recent onset sample. Schizophr Res. 215:217-222. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2019.10.025.
  18. Corlier J, Burnette E, Wilson AC, Lou JJ, Landeros A, Minzenberg MJ, Leuchter AF (2020). Effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) on cognitive control. J Affect Disord. 265:272-277. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.01.068.
  19. Smucny J, Tully LM, Howell AM, Lesh TA, Johnson SL, OʼReilly RC, Minzenberg MJ, Ursu S, Yoon JH, Niendam TA, Ragland JD, Carter CS (2021). Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are associated with opposite brain reward anticipation-associated response. Neuropsychopharmacology 46(6):1152-1160.
  20. Yoon JH, Maddock RJ, Laufer J, Minzenberg MJ, Niendam TA, Lesh TA, Solomon M, Ragland JD, Carter C (2021). Absence of altered in vivo concentration of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex GABA in recent onset schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. S0920-9964(21)00230-9.
  21. Minzenberg MJ, Yoon JH (2022). A profile of high scores on the Peters delusion inventory and low engagement in pandemic-related health behaviors in a non-clinical sample. Schizophr Res. 250:10-12. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2022.09.026.
  22. Minzenberg MJ, Yoon JH (2022). Profiles in conspiracism: Associations with two psychiatric syndromes, religiosity and pandemic-related health behaviors. Front Psychiatry 13:996582. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.996582.
  23. Yoon JH, Zhang Z, Mormino E, Davidzon G, Minzenberg MJ, Ballon J, Kalinowski A, Hardy K, Naganawa M, Carson RE, Khalighi M, Park JH, Levinson DF, Chin FEET (2023). Reductions in synaptic marker SV2A in early-course Schizophrenia. J Psychiatr Res. 161: 213-217. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.02.026.

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