Ultrasound gives our brain a nudge in the right direction 🧠
👀 Look to your left, look to your right!
We used #ultrasound to stimulate the brain and it changed human choice behavior within a fraction of a second. No surgery, no implants.
Link to paper ⬇️
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
This was, of course, a team effort! A huge thank you to all the collaborators: @ben-kop.bsky.social, @reneecabbage.bsky.social, Solenn Walstra, José Marques, @achetverikov.bsky.social, @pmedendorp.bsky.social and my promotors @lennartverhagen.bsky.social and Hanneke den Ouden 💛
🔊🧠 By targeting the FEF, a brain circuit with well-characterized link to measurable behavior, and combining behavioral assays with brain imaging, our study shows how TUS can probe fast neural dynamics and bring everyone to the same level: from imbalanced to balanced.
🙅♀️ To ensure our results weren't skewed by confounds, we stimulated the left and right primary motor cortex (M1) as a control site. We found no significant changes in behavior after M1 stimulation, confirming that our observed effects were specific to FEF TUS. 🙌
💎 What excites us most: ultrasound can reach deep brain regions that no other non-invasive technique can access. Those same regions are disrupted in depression, addiction, and more. We hope this opens the door to understanding — and eventually treating — them.
😮 The twist? Individual differences matter. Every person and every brain is different. We show neurotransmitter levels vary widely across participants, and so does their behavior. Ultrasound stimulation brought everyone to the same level: from imbalanced to balanced.
🔑 Our key finding: TUS over the frontal eye fields (FEF) excited saccadic behavior, effectively biasing eye movements towards the contralateral side within a fraction of a second. 👀 This confirms that TUS can modulate behavioral in humans in real time.
#Ultrasound gives the brain a nudge in the right direction www.ru.nl/en/research/... by @dondersinst.bsky.social with @sohafarboud.bsky.social; can ultrasound nudge the brain of blind users of visual-to-auditory sensory substitution into "truly seeing" with light percepts, #phosphenes? #neuroscience
🧠 A nudge in the right direction
A recent study, published in Nature Communications, demonstrates that focused transcranial ultrasound (#FUS) can stimulate the brain ánd influence human behaviour — all without surgery or implants. 🎯 Read more: 👇
www.ru.nl/en/research/...