Abstract
Transcranial magneto-acoustical stimulation (TMAS) uses ultrasonic waves and a static magnetic field to generate electric current in nerve tissues for the purpose of modulating neuronal activities. It has the advantage of high spatial resolution and penetration depth. Neuronal firing rhythms carry and transmit nerve information in neural systems. In this study, we investigated the phase-locking characteristics of neuronal firing rhythms with TMAS based on the Hodgkin-Huxley neuron model. The simulation results indicate that the modulation frequency of ultrasound can affect the phase-locking behaviors. The results of this study may help us to explain the potential firing mechanism of TMAS.
Highlights
Transcranial magneto-acoustical stimulation (TMAS), a novel brain stimulation technology, can generate an electric current in a static magnetic field by using ultrasonic waves to noninvasively stimulate the neural tissues (Norton, 2003; Yuan et al, 2016b)
We keep the voltage is small with depolarization under the threshold (e.g., Figure 3A for MF = 10 Hz) (ii) As the MF gradual increases, a slightly larger frequency can make the neuron excitable: neurons show periodic spiking firing, and the firing frequency remains at the modulation frequency
The state of the system is 1:1 phase-locking, in other words, it is common-frequency phase-locking (e.g., Figure 3B for MF = 50 Hz). (iii) When the MF is further increased, the neuronal transmembrane voltage is a 23:24 phase-locking oscillation, and the periodic spiking firing pattern of the neurons is replaced by periodic bursting firing; that is, the 1:1 pattern is replaced by p-1:p (p ≥ 2) phase-locking
Summary
Transcranial magneto-acoustical stimulation (TMAS), a novel brain stimulation technology, can generate an electric current in a static magnetic field by using ultrasonic waves to noninvasively stimulate the neural tissues (Norton, 2003; Yuan et al, 2016b). Compared with transcranial magnetic stimulation, a noninvasive brain stimulation tool that has been used for treating and rehabilitating neurological and psychiatric disorders (Bystritsky et al, 2011; Muller et al, 2012), TMAS has a higher spatial resolution for brain stimulation because the spatial resolution of TMAS is determined by the size of the ultrasonic spot, approximately 2 mm in diameter. The in vivo animal experimental results showed that TMAS could enhance the effect of tFUS on neuromodulation (Yuan et al, 2016b). If the input signal of the neuron is added to the electromagnetic stimulation, the firing threshold and the firing time of the neuron will be changed, which will result in changes to the neural encoding. The study of the relationship between the neuron and external stimulation, on the one hand, will help to reveal and explain the principle of the disruption
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