Transcranial focused ultrasound neuromodulation — altering the brain's activity with low-intensity ultrasound — is really exciting .

It allows us to manipulate arbitrary regions of the brain without surgery, potentially replacing the (brain-damaging) electrode implants currently used for serious neurological conditions like epilepsy and Parkinson's, and potentially also expanding applications of brain stimulation to milder conditions not worth the risks of brain surgery, like mental illness, addiction, or chronic pain.

The field is rapidly growing, and since I wrote my earlier post series there have been quite a few human studies published. Here's a systematic overview of all the human studies published in 2024, by target brain region.

Headline Results

This year's papers further confirm, to start with, that ultrasound does things to brain activity, if that was still in doubt, and that it is safe enough [...]

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Outline:

(00:59) Headline Results

(03:04) Amygdala

(04:20) Motor Cortex

(05:51) Nucleus Accumbens

(06:20) Posterior Cingulate Cortex

(07:38) Posterior Insula

(08:02) Prefrontal Cortex

(08:29) Thalamus

(10:01) Ventral Capsule/Striatum

(10:23) Visual Cortex

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First published:

Source:

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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