Sonication of the anterior thalamus with MRI-Guided transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) alters pain thresholds in healthy adults: A double-blind, sham-controlled study

Badran, Bashar W.; Caulfield, Kevin A.; Stomberg-Firestein, Sasha; Summers, Philipp M.; Dowdle, Logan T.; Savoca, Matt; Li, Xingbao; Austelle, Christopher W.; Short, E. Baron; Borckardt, Jeffrey J.; Spivak, Norman M.; Bystritsky, Alexander; George, Mark S.

doi:10.1016/j.brs.2020.10.007

Cited by 103 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 56 publications

(46 reference statements)

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“…Along with simulations, real-time high resolution imaging techniques such as MRI are frequently employed in conjunction with ultrasound stimulation on larger animals and humans [56e58]. A recent report of ultrasound stimulation in human subjects acquired MRI scans of subjects' brains before stimulation to map the neuroanatomical structures of the brain for accurate positioning of the transducer [58]. This study also designed custom 3D-printed head-worn mounts to fix the distance of the transducer surface from the brain, and precise targeting was confirmed in real time by a two-person verification approach using a rapid scanning system calibrated with the focal length of the ultrasound beam and the relative neuroanatomical map of the brain.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transcranial focused ultrasound stimulation with high spatial resolution

Kim

Kook

et al. 2021

Brain Stimulation

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Background: Low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound stimulation is a promising candidate for noninvasive brain stimulation and accurate targeting of brain circuits because of its focusing capability and long penetration depth. However, achieving a sufficiently high spatial resolution to target small animal sub-regions is still challenging, especially in the axial direction. Objective: To achieve high axial resolution, we designed a dual-crossed transducer system that achieved high spatial resolution in the axial direction without complex microfabrication, beamforming circuitry, and signal processing. Methods: High axial resolution was achieved by crossing two ultrasound beams of commercially available piezoelectric curved transducers at the focal length of each transducer. After implementation of the fixture for the dual-crossed transducer system, three sets of in vivo animal experiments were conducted to demonstrate high target specificity of ultrasound neuromodulation using the dual-crossed transducer system (n ¼ 38). Results: The full-width at half maximum (FWHM) focal volume of our dual-crossed transducer system was under 0.52 mm 3 . We report a focal diameter in both lateral and axial directions of 1 mm. To demonstrate successful in vivo brain stimulation of wild-type mice, we observed the movement of the forepaws. In addition, we targeted the habenula and verified the high spatial specificity of our dualcrossed transducer system. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate the ability of the dual-crossed transducer system to target highly specific regions of mice brains using ultrasound stimulation. The proposed system is a valuable tool to study the complex neurological circuitry of the brain noninvasively.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transcranial focused ultrasound stimulation with high spatial resolution

Kim

Kook

et al. 2021

Brain Stimulation

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“…Whereas these more traditional brain stimulation techniques might not be ideal given our hypotheses on the involvement of deeper brain structures, new brain stimulation techniques that are capable of non-invasively manipulating brain activity in deep structures are currently being developed. For instance, it might be possible to change amygdala activity or modulate ACC functional connectivity with deeper brain structures using transcranial ultrasonic stimulation (macaques: Folloni et al, 2019;humans: Legon et al, 2018;Badran et al, 2020;Fini and Tyler, 2020), or by applying temporally interfering electrical fields (Grossman et al, 2017). These techniques can potentially be used to test causal predictions of the model by increasing or decreasing synchronization between structures.…”

Section: Predictions Based On the Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Approach-Avoidance Decisions Under Threat: The Role of Autonomic Psychophysiological States

et al. 2021

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Acutely challenging or threatening situations frequently require approach-avoidance decisions. Acute threat triggers fast autonomic changes that prepare the body to freeze, fight or flee. However, such autonomic changes may also influence subsequent instrumental approach-avoidance decisions. Since defensive bodily states are often not considered in value-based decision-making models, it remains unclear how they influence the decision-making process. Here, we aim to bridge this gap by discussing the existing literature on the potential role of threat-induced bodily states on decision making and provide a new neurocomputational framework explaining how these effects can facilitate or bias approach-avoid decisions under threat. Theoretical accounts have stated that threat-induced parasympathetic activity is involved in information gathering and decision making. Parasympathetic dominance over sympathetic activity is particularly seen during threat-anticipatory freezing, an evolutionarily conserved response to threat demonstrated across species and characterized by immobility and bradycardia. Although this state of freezing has been linked to altered information processing and action preparation, a full theoretical treatment of the interactions with value-based decision making has not yet been achieved. Our neural framework, which we term the Threat State/Value Integration (TSI) Model, will illustrate how threat-induced bodily states may impact valuation of competing incentives at three stages of the decision-making process, namely at threat evaluation, integration of rewards and threats, and action initiation. Additionally, because altered parasympathetic activity and decision biases have been shown in anxious populations, we will end with discussing how biases in this system can lead to characteristic patterns of avoidance seen in anxiety-related disorders, motivating future pre-clinical and clinical research.

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“…The emerging technology of transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) offers the unique possibility of noninvasive, targeted neuromodulation. It is a promising new potential neuromodulation tool, because it can preferentially target and stimulate deep brain regions (e.g., thalamus), with high spatial specificity, whilst having minimal effect on other regions [1][2][3][4]. It allows for the noninvasive delivery of acoustic energy to a well-localized and circumscribed brain region of a few millimeters in diameter, depositing mechanical or thermal energies [5,6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Safety of focused ultrasound neuromodulation in humans with temporal lobe epilepsy

Stern¹,

Spivak

Becerra

et al. 2021

Brain Stimulation

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Sonication of the anterior thalamus with MRI-Guided transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) alters pain thresholds in healthy adults: A double-blind, sham-controlled study

Cited by 103 publications

References 56 publications

Transcranial focused ultrasound stimulation with high spatial resolution

Transcranial focused ultrasound stimulation with high spatial resolution

Approach-Avoidance Decisions Under Threat: The Role of Autonomic Psychophysiological States

Safety of focused ultrasound neuromodulation in humans with temporal lobe epilepsy

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