Offline impact of transcranial focused ultrasound on cortical activation in primates

• Published in: eLife Vol. 8
• Main Authors: Verhagen, Lennart, Gallea, Cécile, Folloni, Davide, Constans, Charlotte, Jensen, Daria Ea, Ahnine, Harry, Roumazeilles, Léa, Santin, Mathieu, Ahmed, Bashir, Lehericy, Stéphane, Klein-Flügge, Miriam C, Krug, Kristine, Mars, Rogier B, Rushworth, Matthew Fs, Pouget, Pierre, Aubry, Jean-François, Sallet, Jerome
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 12-02-2019; eLife Sciences Publication; eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
• Subjects: Animals; Auditory pathways; Brain research; brain stimulation; Cerebral Cortex - physiology; Cerebral Cortex - radiation effects; Cognitive science; connectivity; Cortex (frontal); frontal lobe; Macaca; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Medical imaging; Medical research; Neuroimaging; Neuromodulation; Neuroscience; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Protocol; resting-state fMRI; Supplementary motor area; transcranial ultrasound stimulation; Ultrasonic imaging; Ultrasonography - methods; Ultrasound; United Kingdom > UK; France; United States > US; Paris France; brain stimulation; rhesus macaque; connectivity; neuroscience; frontal lobe; transcranial ultrasound stimulation; resting-state fMRI; neuroimaging
• ISSN: 2050-084X; 2050-084X
• DOI: 10.7554/elife.40541

To understand brain circuits it is necessary both to record and manipulate their activity. Transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) is a promising non-invasive brain stimulation technique. To date, investigations report short-lived neuromodulatory effects, but to deliver on its full potential for research and therapy, ultrasound protocols are required that induce longer-lasting 'offline' changes. Here, we present a TUS protocol that modulates brain activation in macaques for more than one hour after 40 s of stimulation, while circumventing auditory confounds. Normally activity in brain areas reflects activity in interconnected regions but TUS caused stimulated areas to interact more selectively with the rest of the brain. In a within-subject design, we observe regionally specific TUS effects for two medial frontal brain regions - supplementary motor area and frontal polar cortex. Independently of these site-specific effects, TUS also induced signal changes in the meningeal compartment. TUS effects were temporary and not associated with microstructural changes.