Abstract
Recent evidence indicates that transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) modulates sensorimotor cortex excitability. However, no study has assessed possible TUS effects on the excitability of deeper brain areas, such as the brainstem. In this study, we investigated whether TUS delivered on the substantia nigra, superior colliculus, and nucleus raphe magnus modulates the excitability of trigeminal blink reflex, a reliable neurophysiological technique to assess brainstem functions in humans.
Highlights
Transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) is a novel non-invasive brain stimulation technique that uses acoustic pressure waves delivered deep within tissues [1,2,3]
The analysis demonstrated a significant effect of the main factors, ‘SIDE’ (F1,15 = 11.92, p < 0.01) and ‘interstimulus intervals (ISI)’ (F1,15 = 42.51, p < 0.001), suggesting that the area of the conditioned R2 component was lower in the muscle ipsilateral than contralateral to the stimulation, and lower at 250 ms than 500 ms ISI in all stimulation conditions and time-points considered
We demonstrated that transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) targeting the superior colliculus, but not other brainstem areas, increased the conditioned R2 component area
Summary
Transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) is a novel non-invasive brain stimulation technique that uses acoustic pressure waves delivered deep within tissues [1,2,3]. TUS of the primary motor cortex decreased corticospinal excitability and intracortical facilitation, increased GABAergic inhibition and reduced motor reaction task performance [8,9]. When delivered over the primary somatosensory cortex, TUS decreased somatosensory evoked potential amplitude [11], enhanced sensory discrimination task performance [11], and induced tactile sensations in contralateral hand regions [12,13]. Overall, these findings suggest that TUS can modulate sensorimotor functions in humans
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