2016/09/23 by Wonhye Lee, Hyun‐Chul Kim, Yujin Jung +4 · 1 voice · 4 citations
Engineering · Neuroscience · #Neuroscience and Neural Engineering #Photoacoustic and Ultrasonic Imaging #Ultrasound and Hyperthermia Applications
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/srep34026
openalex publication_date 2016/09/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Transcranial focused ultrasound (FUS) is making progress as a new non-invasive mode of regional brain stimulation. Current evidence of FUS-mediated neurostimulation for humans has been limited to the observation of subjective sensory manifestations and electrophysiological responses, thus warranting the identification of stimulated brain regions. Here, we report FUS sonication of the primary visual cortex (V1) in humans, resulting in elicited activation not only from the sonicated brain area, but also from the network of regions involved in visual and higher-order cognitive processes (as revealed by simultaneous acquisition of blood-oxygenation-level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging). Accompanying phosphene perception was also reported. The electroencephalo graphic (EEG) responses showed distinct peaks associated with the stimulation. None of the participants showed any adverse effects from the sonication based on neuroimaging and neurological examinations. Retrospective numerical simulation of the acoustic profile showed the presence of individual variability in terms of the location and intensity of the acoustic focus. With exquisite spatial selectivity and capability for depth penetration, FUS may confer a unique utility in providing non-invasive stimulation of region-specific brain circuits for neuroscientific and therapeutic applications.