Brain: Low-intensity ultrasound instead of a scalpel

The low-intensity ultrasound pulse can be used to stimulate brain circuits. And what comes out of the study conducted at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute and a step forward in the treatment of important neurological diseases.

Dr. William Jamie Tyler and her research team have studied for years the development of noninvasive methods for the stimulation of low intensity of the brain, using low-frequency ultrasound. “We tried to understand what were the biological effects of this type of ultrasound on intact brain circuits and how to check the activity ‘Neural through them”, said Tyler, “and we saw how the effects of this technique involving the stimulation of activity neuronal, with positive effects on a wide range of disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, major depression, and dystonia“.

The advantage is that you can “enter” in the convoluted pathways of the brain no longer need to use a scalpel or probes, limiting brain surgery and thus the discomfort and risks to patients. The study also shows that ultrasound can be used to stimulate synaptic transmission between groups of neurons within the brain, stimulating them without generating excessive heating of brain tissue. The path opened by these researchers now awaits only the technical improvements to bring about a complete revolution of neurological medicine.