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Published February 28, 2020 | Published + Supplemental Material
Journal Article Open

Transcranial Focused Ultrasound to the Right Prefrontal Cortex Improves Mood and Alters Functional Connectivity in Humans

Sanguinetti, Joseph L.
Hameroff, Stuart
Smith, Ezra E.
Sato, Tomokazu
Daft, Chris M. W.
Tyler, William J. ORCID icon
Allen, John J. B.

Abstract

Transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) is an emerging method for non-invasive neuromodulation akin to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). tFUS offers several advantages over electromagnetic methods including high spatial resolution and the ability to reach deep brain targets. Here we describe two experiments assessing whether tFUS could modulate mood in healthy human volunteers by targeting the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG), an area implicated in mood and emotional regulation. In a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study, participants received 30 s of 500 kHz tFUS or a placebo control. Visual Analog Mood Scales (VAMS) assessed mood four times within an hour (baseline and three times after tFUS). Participants who received tFUS reported an overall increase in Global Affect (GA), an aggregate score from the VAMS scale, indicating a positive shift in mood. Experiment 2 examined resting-state functional (FC) connectivity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) following 2 min of 500 kHz tFUS at the rIFG. As in Experiment 1, tFUS enhanced self-reported mood states and also decreased FC in resting state networks related to emotion and mood regulation. These results suggest that tFUS can be used to modulate mood and emotional regulation networks in the prefrontal cortex.

Additional Information

© 2020 Sanguinetti, Hameroff, Smith, Sato, Daft, Tyler and Allen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Received: 27 August 2019; Accepted: 04 February 2020; Published: 28 February 2020. We are deeply indebted to Russ Witte and the Experimental Ultrasound and Neuroimaging Lab at the University of Arizona, for their guidance on ultrasound parameters and the repeated use of the hydrophone. Data Availability Statement: The datasets generated for this study are available on request to the corresponding author. Ethics Statement: The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by the Human Subjects Protection Program University of Arizona. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study. Author Contributions: JS, SH, TS, WT, and JA conceived and planned the experiments. TS created the blinding procedures. JS and ES carried out the experiments. CD planned and carried out the acoustic modeling. JS performed the mood analysis and functional connectivity analysis. JS, SH, ES, TS, WT, and JA contributed to the interpretation of the results. JS took the lead in writing the manuscript. All authors provided critical feedback and helped to shape the research and manuscript. This study received funding from Neurotrek, LLC. The funder was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication. Funding was also provided by the Roger Penrose Institute, for partial salary support for JS and SH during manuscript preparation, and the Comprehensive Pain and Addiction Center, University of Arizona Health Sciences. Conflict of Interest: The ultrasound device used in these studies was provided by WT, who is an equity holding founder of IST, LLC, a private neurotechnology company, and the inventor of issued and pending international and US patents covering systems and methods for ultrasonic and bioelectronic neuromodulation. CD was a principal of River Sonic Solutions LLC and is currently self-employed as an ultrasound expert consultant. TS and CD do not own patents or intellectual property, nor work for or own stock and financial interests in any company in the neuromodulation field. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Attached Files

Published - fnhum-14-00052.pdf

Supplemental Material - Table_1_Transcranial_Focused_Ultrasound_to_the_Right_Prefrontal_Cortex_Improves_Mood_and_Alters_Functional_Connectivity_in_Humans.docx

Files

fnhum-14-00052.pdf

Additional details

Identifiers Funding Dates
Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 19, 2023