Non-invasive deep brain ultrasonic neuromodulation

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Non-invasive ultrasonic neuromodulation of deep grey matter structures in humans

• IRAS ID

  271870

• Contact name

  Charlotte Stagg

• Contact email

  charlotte.stagg@ndcn.ox.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Oxford

• Duration of Study in the UK

  2 years, 11 months, 31 days

• Research summary

  Non-invasive brain stimulation can be used to increase or decrease neural activity and has provided fundamental insights about brain function. Non-invasive electrical and magnetic stimulation are used very commonly but are inherently limited to the outer layers of the brain due to the properties of electrical and magnetic fields. Therefore, they cannot be used for stimulating deep structures like the basal ganglia and thalamus which are of vital importance in multiple, diverse aspects of brain function. Additionally, the stimulation spreads over a relatively large brain area (on the order of centimetres) and therefore cannot be used to study very specific areas.
  Recently, it has been shown that low-intensity ultrasound waves can also be used safely for brain stimulation in animals and humans. Compared to current brain stimulation techniques, ultrasound has two major advantages. It can be used to stimulate deeper brain structures and can be specifically focussed on a small brain area (on the order of millimetres). These advantages will open up tremendous opportunities for studying brain function, particularly deep structures which we cannot easily modulate or record from using non-invasive research techniques and are therefore very challenging to study in humans.
  The goal of this study is to develop protocols for targeted ultrasound stimulation of the thalamus in the healthy adult brain. Findings from this study will allow us to systematically modulate the activity of individual thalamic nuclei and elucidate their roles in healthy brain function and behaviour. Long term, such ultrasound protocols will allow us to learn about many brain areas for which our current knowledge relies on very indirect inferences or animal models.
  While we have no expectation that the device used in this study will be used for clinical research, the data arising from this study will allow us to design future interventions with the ultimate aim of improving symptoms in patients with a range of neurological and psychiatric disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease
  

• REC name

  East Midlands - Leicester South Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  22/EM/0164

• Date of REC Opinion

  9 Sep 2022

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion