Brian J. Snyder, M.D., F.A.N.N.S., is a functional neurosurgeon who specializes in the surgical treatment of movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, tremor and dystonia, as well as seizure disorders and the surgical treatment of pain. Dr. Snyder is an expert in deep brain stimulation (DBS) utilizing microelectrode recording, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), and procedures for mapping, recording, and identifying seizure foci in the brain, and the surgical resection of these foci. Dr. Snyder utilizes neuromodulation including spinal cord stimulation (SCS) and peripheral nerve stimulation to treat refractory pain. Dr. Snyder also has experience with revision surgery for neurostimulators when they either have produced sub-optimal results or have been broken / poorly placed by another physician. Dr. Snyder is experienced with the use of intrathecal pumps for infusion of baclofen and narcotics.
Dr. Snyder was the first neurosurgeon on Long Island to implant the revolutionary NeuroPace RNS® System.
Dr. Snyder received his undergraduate degree in Biology from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. He received his medical degree from Temple University School of Medicine where he was honored as AOA, (Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.)
At Mount Sinai School of Medicine he served as an intern in general surgery and advanced to a resident in neurological surgery and then chief resident in neurological surgery. Following this, he pursued a fellowship in stereotactic and functional neurosurgery under Dr. Andres Lozano at the Toronto Western Hospital, University of Toronto. He has also obtained certification in both Gamma Knife® and Cyberknife® radiosurgery.
Dr. Snyder has published and presented extensively on fields in functional neurosurgery. His papers and presentations include works on surgery for primary dystonia, seizure outcomes associated with cavernous malformations, deep brain stimulation for depression and Parkinson’s disease as well as gamma knife treatment for tremor.
As a resident and fellow, he was active in the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. He was elected to the Young Neurosurgeons Committee and subsequently was elected to serve as the liaison from the Young Neurosurgeons Committee to the executive committee of the American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery.
Dr. Snyder was appointed Director of Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery at Winthrop-University Hospital. He uses the most state of the art yet least invasive procedures possible to manage the disabling symptoms associated with epilepsy, movement disorder and refractory pain.
Since 2018, Dr. Snyder has been recognized by his peers as a Castle Connolly “Top Doctor: New York Metro Area.”
Publications
Articles
Young WF, Weaver M, Snyder B, Narayan R. Reversal of tetraplegia in patients with cervical osteomyelitis–epidural abscess using anterior debridement and fusion Spinal Cord 2001 Oct;39(10):538-40
Snyder BJ, Bruner HJ, Post KD Two-stage Resection of a Giant Vestibular Schwannoma in Youman’sOnline ed. Winn HR
Snyder BJ, Olanow CW, Stem Cell Treatment for Parkinson’s Disease: An update for 2005 Current Opinions in Neurology. Current Opin Neurol 2005 Aug 18 (4): 376-385
Argaw AT, Zhang Y, Snyder, BJ, Kopp N, Raine CS, Brosnan CF, John GR Interleukin-1β induces blood-brain barrier permeability via reactivation of the hypoxia-angiogenesis program. J Immunol 2006 Oct 15; 177 (8) 5574-5584
Alterman, RA. Snyder, BJ Deep Brain Stimulation for Torsion Dystonia Acta Neurochir Suppl (2007) 97:1-9
Lozano AM, Snyder BJ. Deep brain stimulation for parkinsonian gait disorders. J Neurol. 2008 Aug;255 Suppl 4:30-1. Review.
Kim NK, Choi BH, Huang X, Snyder BJ, Bukhari S, Kong TH, Park H, Park HC, Park SR, Ha Y.
Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor promotes survival of dopaminergic neurons in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine-induced murine Parkinson’s disease model. Eur J Neurosci. 2009 Mar;29(5):891-900. Epub 2009 Feb 24.
Kong T, Choi JK, Park H, Choi BH, Snyder BJ, Bukhari S, Kim NK, Huang X, Park SR, Park HC, Ha Y.Reduction in programmed cell death and improvement in functional outcome of transient focal cerebral ischemia after administration of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor in rats. Laboratory investigation. J Neurosurg. 2009 Jul;111(1):155-63.
Zhang Y, Argaw AT, Gurfein BT, Zameer A, Snyder BJ, Ge C, Lu QR, Rowitch DH, Raine CS, Brosnan CF, John GR. Notch1 signaling plays a role in regulating precursor differentiation during CNS remyelination. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Nov 10;106(45):19162-7. Epub 2009 Oct 23.
Hamani C, Mayberg H, Snyder B, Giacobbe P, Kennedy S, Lozano AM. Deep brain stimulation of the subcallosal cingulate gyrus for depression: anatomical location of active contacts in clinical responders and a suggested guideline for targeting. J Neurosurg. 2009 Dec;111(6):1209-15.
Lozano AM, Snyder BJ, Hamani C, Hutchison WD, Dostrovsky JO. Basal ganglia physiology and deep brain stimulation. Mov Disord. 2010;25 Suppl 1:S71-5. Review.
Abstracts/Posters
Young WF, Weaver M, Snyder B, Narayan RK Outcome of Tetraplegic Patients After Anterior Debridement and Fusion for Cervical Epidural Abscess/Osteomyelitis. Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting 2000. (abstract)
Strauss, KI, Snyder BJ, Meagher RJ, Fogelsanger LN, Narayan RK Hippocampal Eicosanoid Changes Following Traumatic Brain Injury, Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting 2001 (poster)
Argaw AT, Zhang Y, Snyder, BJ, Kopp N, Raine CS, Brosnan CF, John GR Interleukin-1β induces blood-brain barrier permeability via reactivation of the hypoxia-angiogenesis program Society for Neuroscience 2005 (poster)
Snyder BJ, Tagliati M, Alterman R, Meta-analysis of Pallidal Deep Brain Stimulation for Spasmodic Torticollis (oral abstract- ASSFN June 2006)
Snyder B. Meta-analysis of Pallidal Deep Brain Stimulation for Spasmodic Torticollis. Stereotact Funct Neurosurg 2007;85:19–65
Smith, AJ, Ullman, JU, Snyder BJ, Gilad, R, Meyer, S, Singh, H. Effect of Alcohol and Aspirin on Worsening Intracranial Hemorrhage after Acute Head Injury. American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Annual Meeting April 2007 (oral abstract)
Snyder, BJ., Chen, JY-W. Hodaie, M. A Comparative Assessment of Three Different Tractography Programs and Their Utility in Functional Neurosurgery -ASSFN Vancouver, Canada, June, 2008
Hodaie, MA, Snyder, BJ, Moro, E, Hutchison, W, Dostrovsky, J Target localization in radiosurgical thalamotomy: Comparison with stereotactic procedures using intraoperative microelectrode recordings ASSFN, Vancouver, Canada, June 2008
Bukhari, S, Snyder B, Ha Y, Valiante T, Results of Medical Treatment on Epilepsy Secondary to Supratentorial Cavernomas: Long term follow-up. ASSFN, Vancouver, Canada, June 2008
Snyder, BJ, Chen, JY-W, Hodaie, MA. A Comparison of Three Different Tractography Tools and Their Ease of Application. Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, MNaQeGQsPK2waxM4Webourne, Australia June 2008
I Prescott, M Weinberger, BJ Snyder, E Moro, M Hodaie, AM Lozano, JO
Dostrovsky, WD Hutchison. Levodopa and high frequency electrical stimulation enhance
stimulus-induced gamma oscillations from basal ganglia output nuclei in Parkinson’s disease SFN 2008
Chapters
Snyder, BJ, Olanow, CW. (2005) Cell Transplantation for Parkinson’s Disease.in Textbook of Neural Repair and Rehabilitation. (Ed. Selzer et al.) Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, pp 71-88
Snyder BJ, Naidich TP, Post KD.(2008) Cystic Lesions of the Sella. in Diagnosis and Management of Pituitary Disorders (ed. Swearing, B and Biller, BMK) Humana Press 445-466
Hamani, C, Snyder, BJ, Laxton, A, Lozano, AM. Surgical Treatment of Major Depression in Youman’s Neurological Surgery (ed. H.R. Winn) Elsevier Saunders 2011 (1018-1025)