Transcranial focused ultrasound modulates the activity of primary somatosensory cortex in humans.
Authors: Legon W, Sato TF, Opitz A, Mueller J, Barbour A, Williams A, Tyler WJ
Improved methods of noninvasively modulating human brain function are needed. Here we probed the influence of transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) targeted to the human primary somatosensory cortex (S1) on sensory-evoked brain activity and sensory discrimination abilities. The lateral and axial spatial resolution of the tFUS beam implemented were 4.9 mm and 18 mm, respectively. Electroencephalographic recordings showed that tFUS significantly attenuated the amplitudes of somatosensory evoked potentials elicited by median nerve stimulation. We also found that tFUS significantly modulated the spectral content of sensory-evoked brain oscillations. The changes produced by tFUS on sensory-evoked brain activity were abolished when the acoustic beam was focused 1 cm anterior or posterior to S1. Behavioral investigations showed that tFUS targeted to S1 enhanced performance on sensory discrimination tasks without affecting task attention or response bias. We conclude that tFUS can be used to focally modulate human cortical function.
Introduction
Purpose
Transcranial ultrasound stimulation
Study Objective
To determine whether transcranial focused ultrasound can modulate activity of the human primary somatosensory cortex.
Animal model / Human subject
Human (Homo sapiens); strain: N/A; age: not reported; sex: not reported
Disease model
healthy
Targeted brain region(s)
Primary Somatosensory Cortex
Target coordinates
lateral and axial 4.9 mm and 18 mm
Outcomes and Safety
Summary of Outcomes
Transcranial focused ultrasound was shown to modulate neural activity in the human primary somatosensory cortex.
Brain Region
Ultrasound Parameters
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