Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound-Mediated Attenuation of Acute Seizure Activity Based on EEG Brain Functional Connectivity

Abstract

(1) Background: Ultrasound has been used for noninvasive stimulation and is a promising technique for treating neurological diseases. Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder, that is attributed to uncontrollable abnormal neuronal hyperexcitability. Abnormal synchronized activities can be observed across multiple brain regions during a seizure. (2) Methods: we used low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) to sonicate the brains of epileptic rats, analyzed the EEG functional brain network to explore the effect of LIFU on the epileptic brain network, and continued to explore the mechanism of ultrasound neuromodulation. LIFU was used in the hippocampus of epileptic rats in which a seizure was induced by kainic acid. (3) Results: By comparing the brain network characteristics before and after sonication, we found that LIFU significantly impacted the functional brain network, especially in the low-frequency band. The brain network connection strength across multiple brain regions significantly decreased after sonication compared to the connection strength in the control group. The brain network indicators (the path length, clustering coefficient, small-worldness, local efficiency and global efficiency) all changed significantly in the low-frequency. (4) Conclusions: These results revealed that LIFU could reduce the network connections of epilepsy circuits and change the structure of the brain network at the whole-brain level.

Different Modes of Low-Frequency Focused Ultrasound-Mediated Attenuation of Epilepsy Based on the Topological Theory

“…One self-developed 32-channel EEG electrode was used to acquire EEG signals. Previous studies have reported on the effectiveness and safety of electrode use [ 47 , 51 ]. The size of the electrode is shown in Figure 3 A.…”

“…Previous reports have confirmed that ultrasound (US) has an inhibitory effect on epilepsy. In previous studies, we explored the regulation of low-intensity transcranial pulsed ultrasound (LITPU) on epilepsy [ 47 ]. In this study, we used two different modes of ultrasound on kainic acid (KA)-induced epileptic rats in order to uncover the influence of different modes of ultrasound on the epileptic brain network.…”

Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation: A Review of the Excitatory and Inhibitory Effects on Brain Activity in Human and Animals

“…They found that tFUS significantly impaired translation of counterfactual choice values into actual behavioral change and changed the activity and connectivity maps of the ACC ( Fouragnan et al, 2019 ). The study of Zhang et al (2021) reported that FUS reduced the network connections of epilepsy circuits and change the structure of the brain network at the whole-brain level. The adjustment effect of tFUS on neural network connection may be the mechanism of its repeated application to improve brain diseases.…”

Positive Effect of α-Asaronol on the Incidence of Post-Stroke Epilepsy for Rat with Cerebral Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

“…Post-stroke epilepsy, which accounts for almost 50% of newly diagnosed epilepsy in patients with an age greater than 60 years, could lead to the aggravation of the disease state, seriously affect the prognosis, and even endanger life [ 24 ]. However, most antiepileptic drugs that are used to prevent and treat epilepsy have obvious toxic side effects [ 25 ]. Interestingly, ASOL possesses a very low toxicity and minimal side effects.…”