Kevin Bickart, M.D., Ph.D.

About

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

UCLA Behavioral Neurology Program
Clinic Appts: (310) 794-1195 {Memory Evaluation}
Clinic Fax: (310) 794-7491

Biography

Kevin Bickart, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in Neurology specializing in behavioral and sports neurology as part of UCLA’s BrainSPORT and Neurobehavior programs. He completed his MD/PhD in anatomy and neurobiology from Boston University School of Medicine, post-doc at Northeastern and Harvard Universities, residency in neurology at Stanford, and dual fellowship in behavioral and sports neurology at UCLA. Dr. Bickart was the first to identify neuroimaging correlates of social network size in humans, among his other findings published in high impact journals, such as Nature Neuroscience and The Journal of Neuroscience. He trained under well-known and inspiring mentors, including Lisa Feldman Barrett at Northeastern, Brad Dickerson at Harvard, Mike Greicius at Stanford, and more recently Mario Mendez and Chris Giza at UCLA. Overall, Dr. Bickart’s research focuses on the brain networks that underlie affective and social behavior as it normally develops and degrades with brain injury and neurodegenerative conditions. His work crosses multiple levels of analysis from genetics and brain imaging to affective behavior and real-world social networks. Dr. Bickart’s future work will combine his expertise in brain mapping with noninvasive neuromodulation to develop individualized treatments for chronic affective and social symptoms related to traumatic brain injury and frontal lobe dementias.

Specialty

Neurology, Neurobehavioral, Tramatic Brain Injury, Frontal Lobe Dementias, Memory Disorders, and Dementias.

Board Certifications

United Council for Neurological Subspecialties

American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

Medical Board of California

Affiliations

Physicians

ADRC - Clinical Core

Education and Degrees

B.Sc., Psychobiology & Chemistry with honors, Quinnipiac University

Post-doctorate with Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD, and Bradford C. Dickerson, MD, Northeastern and Harvard University

M.D./Ph.D., Anatopmy & Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine

Neurology Residency, Stanford University

Fellowship, Neurobehavior, UCLA - West LA VA Medical Center

Awards and Honors

Sydney Cooperband Award, Boston University (2015)

Excellence in Teaching Award, California Pacific Medical Center (2016)

Outstanding Teaching Award, Stanford University (2017)

Outstanding Teaching Award, Stanford University (2019)

Publications

Peer Reviewed

Kim Y-H, Kim D-S, Hong JH, Park CH, Hua N, Bickart KC, Byun WM, Jang SH. Corticospinal tract location in internal capsule of human brain: diffusion tensor tractography and functional MRI study. Neuroreport [Internet]. 2008 May 28;19(8):817– 820. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/WNR.0b013e328300a086 PMID: 18463493 (I contributed to data analysis.)

Bickart KC, Wright CI, Dautoff RJ, Dickerson BC, Barrett LF. Amygdala volume and social network size in humans. Nat Neurosci [Internet]. 2011 Feb;14(2):163–164. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn.2724 PMCID: PMC3079404

Bickart KC, Hollenbeck MC, Barrett LF, Dickerson BC. Intrinsic Amygdala–Cortical Functional Connectivity Predicts Social Network Size in Humans. J Neurosci [Internet]. Society for Neuroscience; 2012 Oct 17 [cited 2017 Jan 22];32(42):14729–14741. Available from: http://www.jneurosci.org/content/32/42/14729.full PMID: 23077058

Bickart KC, Brickhouse M, Negreira A, Sapolsky D, Barrett LF, Dickerson BC. Atrophy in distinct corticolimbic networks in frontotemporal dementia relates to social impairments measured using the Social Impairment Rating Scale. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2014 Apr;85(4):438–448.

Touroutoglou A, Bickart KC, Barrett LF, Dickerson BC. Amygdala task-evoked activity and task-free connectivity independently contribute to feelings of arousal. Hum Brain Mapp [Internet]. 2014 Oct;35(10):5316–5327. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hbm.22552 PMCID: PMC4335688 (I contributed to writing, editing, and figure production.)

Satpute AB, Kang J, Bickart KC, Yardley H, Wager TD, Barrett LF. Involvement of Sensory Regions in Affective Experience: A Meta-Analysis. Front Psychol [Internet]. 2015 Dec 15;6:1860. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01860 PMCID: PMC4678183 (I contributed to writing, editing, and figure production.)

Sharma TL, Kerrigan JM, McArthur DL, Bickart K, Broglio SP, McAllister TW, McCrea M, Giza CC, CARE Consortium Investigators. Flying After Concussion and Symptom Recovery in College Athletes and Military Cadets. JAMA Netw Open [Internet]. 2020 Nov 2;3(11):e2025082. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.25082 PMCID: PMC7658735 (I contributed to data analysis, writing, and editing.)

Koerte IK, Esopenko C, Hinds SR 2nd, Shenton ME, Bonke EM, Bazarian JJ, Bickart KC, Bigler ED, Bouix S, Buckley TA, Choe MC, Echlin PS, Gill J, Giza CC, Hayes J, Hodges CB, Irimia A, Johnson PK, Kenney K, Levin HS, Lin AP, Lindsey HM, Lipton ML, Max JE, Mayer AR, Meier TB, Merchant-Borna K, Merkley TL, Mills BD, Newsome MR, Porfido T, Stephens JA, Tartaglia MC, Ware AL, Zafonte RD, Zeineh MM, Thompson PM, Tate DF, Dennis EL, Wilde EA, Baron D. The ENIGMA sports injury working group:- an international collaboration to further our understanding of sport-related brain injury. Brain Imaging Behav [Internet]. 2020 Jul 27; Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11682-020-00370-y PMID: 32720179 (I contributed to writing and editing.)

Snyder A, Sheridan C, Tanner A, Bickart K, Sullan M, Craske M, Choe M, Babikian T, Giza C, Asarnow R. Cardiorespiratory Functioning in Youth with Persistent Post-Concussion Symptoms: A Pilot Study. J Clin Med Res [Internet]. 2021 Feb 3;10(4). Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm10040561 PMCID: PMC7913264 (I contributed to data analysis and visualization, writing, and editing.)

Dennis EL, Caeyenberghs K, Hoskinson KR, Merkley TL, Suskauer SJ, Asarnow RF, Babikian T, Bartnik-Olson B, Bickart K, Bigler ED, Ewing-Cobbs L, Figaji A, Giza CC, Goodrich-Hunsaker NJ, Hodges CB, Hovenden ES, Irimia A, Königs M, Levin HS, Lindsey HM, Max JE, Newsome MR, Olsen A, Ryan NP, Schmidt AT, Spruiell MS, Wade BSC, Ware AL, Watson CG, Wheeler AL, Yeates KO, Zielinski BA, Kochunov P, Jahanshad N, Thompson PM, Tate DF, Wilde EA. (2021). White Matter Disruption in Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: Results from ENIGMA Pediatric Moderate to Severe Traumatic Brain Injury. Neurology. http://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000012222 (I contributed to formulating analysis plan, writing and editing.)

Presentations

Bickart KC, Sauder CL, Ronen I, Kim DS, and Putnam KM. (2009). Recruiting prefrontal and cingulate control over the amygdala: Perception of control and emotion. American Association of Anatomists: New Orleans.

Bickart KC, Wright CI, Dautoff RJ, Dickerson BC, and Barrett LF. (2010). Amygdala volume and social network size in humans. Human Brain Mapping: Barcelona.

Bickart KC. The social mind: Revealing brain research and what it means for social networks (2012). Google Headquarters, Mountain View, CA/

Bickart KC. (2012) The neuroanatomy of living and working in groups. Army Center for Enhanced Performance. Fort Bragg, NC.

Bickart KC, Barrett LF, Brickhouse M, Negreira A, Sapolsky D, and Dickerson BC. (2013). Atrophy in corticolimbic networks predicts social impairments in frontotemporal dementia. American Neuropsychiatric Association: Boston.

Bickart KC, and McCaffrey DC. (2013) The science of athlete development: Using analytics to track and improve athletes and teams. Professional Association of Athlete Development, NBA Headquarters, NYC.

Bickart KC, and McCaffrey DC. (2013) Using player biology to measure team chemistry. MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. Boston, MA.

Bickart KC, Barrett LF, and Dickerson BC. (2014) The role of amygdala structure and connectivity in social cognition. Cognitive Neuroscience Society. Boston, MA.

Bickart KC, Main K, Milazzo A, Newsom MR, and Adamson M, (2016). Aberrant limbic connectivity in women with traumatic brain injury. Pink Concussion.

Bickart KC, Napolioni V, Khan R, et al., Michael D. Greicius, and the IMAGEN Consortium. (2017). Neurogenomic drivers of frontotemporal intrinsic networks centered on the amygdala from a GWAS meta-analysis. OHBM.

Bickart KC, Main K, Milazzo A, Newsom M, Sours C, Gullapalli R, and Adamson M. (2017). Aberrant connectional architecture of frontotemporal circuits in traumatic brain injury. Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics and OHBM.

Bickart KC, Main K, Milazzo A, Newsom M, Sours C, and Adamson M. (2017). Large-scale frontotemporal limbic networks in TBI: vulnerability and response to noninvasive brain stimulation. Stanford Medicine Neuroscience Conference

Bickart KC. (2017). The amygdala and its networks: From neurogenomics to traumatic brain injury. Stanford Neurology Grand Rounds

Bickart KC, Newsom M, Milazzo A, Main K, Sours C, Gullapalli R, Ashford W, Harris O, and Adamson M. (2018) Large-Scale Frontotemporal Limbic Networks in TBI: Vulnerability and Response to Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation. American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting.

Bickart KC. (2019). Clinical Pathology Case Conference on Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, Stanford Neurology Grand Rounds

Bickart KC, Olsen A, Dennis E, Babikian T, Asarnow R, and Giza C. (2019). Amygdala hypoconnectivity in pediatric TBI. University of California Neurotrauma meeting.

Bickart KC. (2020). The amygdala and its networks. From genes to social behavior in health, dementia, and TBI. Brain Injury Research Center, UCLA.

Bickart KC. (2020). Neurobehavior and neuroimaging in TBI across the spectrum of injury age, mechanism, and severity. Dementia Colloquium, UCLA.

Bickart KC. (2020). The amygdala and its networks. From genes to social behavior in health, dementia, and TBI. Interdisciplinary Affective Science Laboratory, Northeastern.

Bickart KC. (2020). Amygdala network disruption in TBI across the spectrum of injury age, mechanism, and severity. TBI Webinar Series by National Neurotrauma Society.

Bickart KC, Sheridan C, Thibeault C, Hamilton R, LeVangie J, Giza CC, and Choe M. (2020). Heart rate variability interacts with recovery of resting-state connectivity in amygdala circuitry and the persistence of symptoms after sport-related concussion. AAN Sports Concussion Conference.

Bickart KC. (2021). Brain networks and behaviors affected in TBI across the spectrum of injury age, mechanism, and severity. Neuromodulation Weekly Seminar, UCLA.

Bickart KC. (2021). Brain networks and behaviors affected in TBI across the spectrum of injury age, mechanism, and severity. Geriatric Psychiatry Grand Rounds, UCLA.

Bickart KC. (2021). The amygdala and its networks: From genes to social behavior in health, dementia and TBI. Geriatric Psychiatry Grand Rounds, UCLA.

Bickart KC. (2021). TBI: Diagnosis, prognosis, and management. Psychiatry Resident Didactic, UCLA VA.

Bickart KC. (2021). Visuospatial processing and posterior cortical atrophy. Neurology Resident Didactic, UCLA.