Ultrasound system for precise neuromodulation of human deep brain circuits
Researchers created a helmet that uses sound waves to stimulate deep brain areas without surgery. They found that they can precisely target a very small region deep in the brain, which is involved in processing visual information. After stimulating this area, they could detect changes in activity in superficial brain areas involved in vision. This finding could lead to new treatments for disorders where deep brain areas are especially affected.
We introduce an advanced transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) system for precise deep brain neuromodulation, featuring a 256-element helmet-shaped transducer array (555 kHz), stereotactic positioning, individualised planning, and real-time fMRI monitoring. Experiments demonstrated selective modulation of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and connected visual cortex regions. Participants showed significantly increased visual cortex activity during concurrent TUS and visual stimulation, with high cross-individual reproducibility. A theta-burst TUS protocol produced robust neuromodulatory effects, decreasing visual cortex activity for at least 40 min post-stimulation. Control experiments confirmed these effects were specific to the targeted LGN. Our findings reveal this system’s potential to non-invasively modulate deep brain circuits with unprecedented precision and specificity, offering new avenues for studying brain function and developing targeted therapies for neurological and psychiatric disorders, with transformative potential for both research and clinical applications.
2021. eLife, 10:e67355
