Transcranial Focused Ultrasound to the Right Prefrontal Cortex Improves Mood and Alters Functional Connectivity in...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Neuromodulation
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) is an emerging non-invasive neuromodulation technique.
• tFUS offers advantages over electromagnetic methods like TMS and tDCS, including high spatial resolution and deep brain targeting.
• The right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) is implicated in mood and emotional regulation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess if tFUS can modulate mood in healthy human volunteers.
• To investigate the effects of tFUS targeting the rIFG on mood and emotional regulation networks.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments were conducted using a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind design.
• Experiment 1: Participants received 30s of 500 kHz tFUS or placebo, with mood assessed using Visual Analog Mood Scales (VAMS).
• Experiment 2: Resting-state functional connectivity (FC) was examined using fMRI after 2 min of 500 kHz tFUS at the rIFG.

Main Results:

• tFUS significantly increased Global Affect (GA), indicating a positive mood shift.
• tFUS enhanced self-reported mood states.
• tFUS decreased FC in resting state networks associated with emotion and mood regulation.

Conclusions:

• tFUS can effectively modulate mood in healthy individuals.
• tFUS influences functional connectivity within prefrontal cortex networks involved in emotional regulation.
• tFUS shows potential as a non-invasive tool for mood modulation.