Effective parameters for ultrasound-induced in vivo neurostimulation

Ultrasound-induced neurostimulation has recently gained increasing attention, but little is known about the mechanisms by which it affects neural activity or about the range of acoustic parameters and stimulation protocols that elicit responses. We have established conditions for transcranial stimulation of the nervous system in vivo, using the mouse somatomotor response. We report that (1) continuous-wave stimuli are as effective as or more effective than pulsed stimuli in eliciting responses, and responses are elicited with stimulus onset rather than stimulus offset; (2) stimulation success increases as a function of both acoustic intensity and acoustic duration; (3) interactions of intensity and duration suggest that successful stimulation results from the integration of stimulus amplitude over a time interval of 50 to 150 ms; and (4) the motor response elicited appears to be an all-or-nothing phenomenon, meaning stronger stimulus intensities and durations increase the probability of a motor response without affecting the duration or strength of the response.