Mapping, and Fixing, the Nerves in the Face | Dr. Amit Kochhar

by Anthony Effinger

The Think Neuro podcast from Pacific Neuroscience Institute takes you into the clinic, operating room and laboratory with doctors and surgeons who are tackling the most challenging brain diseases and disorders. Host: Anthony Effinger

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Episode 38: Show Notes

Dr. Amit Kochhar is an otolaryngologist. That means he specializes in surgery in the head and neck. Among the conditions that he treats is something called synkinesis: unintentional contractions of the face muscles. A patient’s eye may close when smiling.

The corner of their mouth might pull when they blink. There are many causes, including onset due to Bell’s palsy and Lyme disease. Most cases resolve within weeks. For the ones that don’t after other remedies fail, Dr. Kochhar maps the nerves in the face and figures out which ones are functioning properly by stimulating them and observing the results.

Because the face has so many nerves that can do the same thing, Dr. Kochhar can remove a malfunctioning one without compromising function. Listen to this podcast to learn how he corrects function in the face and relieves synkinesis.

About Dr. Kochhar

Dr. Amit Kochhar, MD, is double board-certified in Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery and Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He is the director of the Facial Nerve Disorders Program at Pacific Eye, Ear & Skull Base Center, Pacific Neuroscience Institute, Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica.

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Anthony Effinger

Think Neuro's host is Anthony Effinger, an award-winning journalist who is fascinated with neuroscience and the workings of the brain. Anthony spent 24 years at Bloomberg News, where he covered all aspects of finance, with forays into science and health. In 2006, the Association of Health Care Journalists awarded him first prize for Playing the Odds, an in-depth piece on the changing strategies used to treat prostate cancer. These days, he is a staff writer at Willamette Week, a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper in Portland, Oregon, where he lives with his wife and two children.

Last updated: May 19th, 2023