Yaakub, Siti N;
White, Tristan A;
Roberts, Jamie;
Martin, Eleanor;
Verhagen, Lennart;
Stagg, Charlotte J;
Hall, Stephen;
(2023)
Transcranial focused ultrasound-mediated neurochemical and functional connectivity changes in deep cortical regions in humans.
Nature Communications
, 14
(1)
, Article 5318. 10.1038/s41467-023-40998-0.
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Abstract
Low-intensity transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) is an emerging non-invasive technique for focally modulating human brain function. The mechanisms and neurochemical substrates underlying TUS neuromodulation in humans and how these relate to excitation and inhibition are still poorly understood. In 24 healthy controls, we separately stimulated two deep cortical regions and investigated the effects of theta-burst TUS, a protocol shown to increase corticospinal excitability, on the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and functional connectivity. We show that theta-burst TUS in humans selectively reduces GABA levels in the posterior cingulate, but not the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Functional connectivity increased following TUS in both regions. Our findings suggest that TUS changes overall excitability by reducing GABAergic inhibition and that changes in TUS-mediated neuroplasticity last at least 50 mins after stimulation. The difference in TUS effects on the posterior and anterior cingulate could suggest state- or location-dependency of the TUS effect—both mechanisms increasingly recognized to influence the brain’s response to neuromodulation.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Transcranial focused ultrasound-mediated neurochemical and functional connectivity changes in deep cortical regions in humans |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41467-023-40998-0 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40998-0 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third-party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Functional magnetic resonance imaging, Neurochemistry, Neuroscience |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Med Phys and Biomedical Eng |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10176374 |
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