2. Profile
  3. Amy A. Herrold

Amy A. Herrold PhD

Amy A. Herrold
Designation
  • Clinical Associate Professor
  • Edward Hines Junior Veteran Affairs(VA) Hospital
Gender Pronouns
  • she/her
Website

Dr. Herrold is an addiction neuroscientist focused on developing neuroscience-informed neuromodulatory treatments for complex co-occurring neuropsychiatric conditions including substance use disorders, mild traumatic brain injury and chronic musculoskeletal pain. Her overall hypothesis is that co-occurring neuropsychiatric conditions are characterized by exacerbated brain dysfunction and lead to exacerbated behavioral dysfunction, such as elevated alcohol craving. Customizing neuromodulatory treatments to treat this brain dysfunction are warranted given the heterogeneity of these conditions. 

Dr. Herrold’s work also involves the development of combinatorial neuromodulatory interventions. Neuromodulatory treatments, including transcranial magnetic stimulation and intermittent theta burst stimulation have the ability to induce neuroplasticity that can be leveraged to augment neurobehavioral therapeutic and complementary integrative health interventions to improve clinical outcomes and ultimately functional recovery.

  • Neural Target Identification for Functional Disability Associated with Alcohol Related Characteristics Among Veterans with Co-occurring Alcohol Use Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury

    The objectives of this project are to identify a neural target unique to Veterans with co-occurring alcohol use disorder and mild traumatic brain injury (AUD+mTBI) and to test the efficacy of this target as a stimulation site for repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) treatment to maximize functional recovery. rTMS will soon be a treatment option at 30 VAs nationwide and preliminary studies show promise for AUD and mTBI treatment. A better understanding of how AUD+mTBI impacts the brain needs to occur in order to advance rTMS to optimize function.

  • Veterans' Intervention Blending NeuRomodulation and YogA for Chronic Low Back PaiN Treatment: VIBRANT

    The objectives of the VIBRANT project are to demonstrate efficacy of combined intermittent theta burst (iTBS) and yoga (iTBS+yoga) intervention on improving pain, function, analgesic use, self-efficacy, quality of life and well-being among Veterans with chronic low back pain (CLBP). This Merit project will directly benefit Veterans and VA Services by demonstrating efficacy of a new, non-medication treatment for Veterans with CLBP in need of non-opioid treatment options.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/amy.herrold.1/bibliograpahy/49760433/public/?sort=date&direction=ascending
    1. Herrold AA, Aaronson AL, Bhaumik D, Durazzo T, Livengood S, Ramic A, Riordan P, Jordan N, Parrish T, Mallinson T, Kale I, Billups A, Krese K, Kletzel S, Philip NS, Bender Pape TL. (2025) Pilot randomized controlled trial of a customized neural TMS target for functional disability among Veterans with co-occurring alcohol use disorder and mild traumatic brain injury: protocol for TMS TARGET for AUD+mTBI pilot randomized controlled trial. JMIR Research Protocols, 14:e64909.
    2. Krese K, Aaronson AL, Donnelly KZ, Shah R, Chaudhuri S, Bobra S, Etingen B, Kemp A, Bedo S, Kale I, Billups A, Coletta K, Kletzel S, Bender Pape TL, Bhaumik D, Yen P-S, Madore MR, Klumpp HI, Hasley RL, Waler S, Herrold AA. (2025) Research Letter: Safety, feasibility, acceptability and preliminary findings for of Veterans’ Intervention Blending NeuRomodulation and YogA for Chronic PaiN Treatment: VIBRANT – mTBI and Chronic Pain Pilot. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, accepted
    3. Durazzo TC, Beauregard LH, Gu M, Kraybill KP, Josef BDP, Herrold AA, Humphreys K, McNerney MM, Knutson B, Padula CB (2025) Effects of intermittent theta burst to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex on brain volumes and neurometabolites in those with alcohol use disorder: an exploratory analysis. frontiers in Neuroscience, in press, Epub ahead of print https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2025.1613993
    4. Aaronson AL, Smith B, Krese K, Barnhart M, Adamson M, de Wit H, Philip NS, Brenner LA, Bender-Pape T, Herrold AA. (2024) Impulsivity and psychiatric diagnoses as mediators of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among veterans with traumatic brain injury. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. Online ahead of print. doi: 10.1176/appi.neuropsych.20230044
    5. Bernanke A, Hasley R, Sabetfakhri N, de Wit H, Smith BM, Wang L, Brenner LA, Hanlon C, Philip NS, Ajilore O, Herrold A, Aaronson A. (2024) Frontal pole neuromodulation for impulsivity and suicidality in Veterans with mild traumatic brain injury and common co-occurring mental health conditions: protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial. JMIR Research Protocols, 13:e58206.
    6. Herrold AA, Siddiqi SH, Livengood SL, Bender Pape TL, Higgins JP, Adamson Mausoof M, Leung A, Raij T. (2020) Customizing TMS applications in traumatic brain injury using neuroimaging. Journal of Head trauma Rehabilitation, special issue on neuromodulation in traumatic brain injury, 35(6): 401-411.
    7. Herrold AA, Pape TL, Li X, Jordan N. (2017) Association between alcohol craving and health-related quality of life among veterans with co-occurring conditions. Military Medicine. 182(7):e1712-e171
    8. Herrold AA, Jordan N, High WM, Babcock-Parziale J, Chambers RA, Smith B, Evans CT, Li X, Mallinson T, Jenkins S, Pape T. (2014) Alcohol use and craving among Veterans with mental health disorders and mild traumatic brain injury. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 51(9): 1397-1409.
Title Description Investigator(s) Category Status
Feasibility of a Combined Neuromodulation and Yoga Intervention for Veterans with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Chronic Pain VA ORD, RR&D For Veterans with mild TBI and chronic pain, the purpose of this SPiRE project is to develop a novel, combined neuromodulation and yoga neurorehabilitation intervention for Veterans with mTBI and chronic pain, and to examine the intervention’s feasibility and acceptability. Biostatistical Research Program Completed
Neural target identification for functional disability associated with alcohol related characteristics among Veterans with co-occurring alcohol use disorder and traumatic brain injury. VA ORD, RR&D Biostatistical Research Program Completed

*System-generated list from psychiatry research website.