WIP Special

Low-intensity Transcranial Focused Ultrasonic Stimulation (TUS) To Induce Plasticity In The Human Amygdala Networks

Presented by James Hong

Transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) is a novel human neuromodulation tool that can induce safe, focal, deep and reversible changes in brain activity lasting for about one hour. However, to date no studies have assessed whether repeated sessions of TUS might induce longer-lasting brain plasticity and whether it might help improve mood and rebalance brain networks affected in depression, both important steppingstones for achieving therapeutic efficacy. Work using other neurostimulation techniques suggests that repetitive stimulation over multiple days can induce longer-term neural changes reflected in clinical improvement in people with depression.  

 Here, we aim to apply TUS to the amygdala, a region showing abnormal metabolism in depression, on five consecutive days in participants experiencing low mood to 1) assess the feasibility of inducing longer-lasting brain plasticity, 2) explore the nature and the directionality of TUS-induced brain changes, 3) examine the causal role of the amygdala in the aberrant emotional and reward processing associated with depression, and 4) explore TUS effects on mood.

The vision for this project is to lay the necessary scientific, operational and organisational groundwork for later clinical trials using TUS in patients with difficult-to-treat depression.