Technology Review has a new article about brain stimulation using ultrasound. Basically it talks about some of the stuff that I have previously mentioned, but there are a few new things about more recent experiments done. Here is an excerpt;"With ultrasound, we have a much better spatial focus than [with] DBS," says Tyler. "And unlike TMS, we can get anywhere in the brain." Ultrasound--consisting of sound waves with a frequency above 20 kilohertz--has been used for decades in medicine to image muscle, organs, and fetuses.Recently, ultrasound has been shown to alter the morphology of neurons. So it should be interesting to see what sort of manipulations may become possible in the future. Ultrasound could potentially be used to fine tune several aspects of brain cell functioning.
Deep brain stimulation has been shown to spark new neuron growth in key brain regions. Research has shown that these neurons are functional. So I think researchers may find ways of using non-invasive brain stimulation (deep TMS or possibly ultrasound) to do the same thing.
2 comments:
Personally, I suspect microtubes delivering specific drug (mixtures) to specific areas of the brain will be the most useful answer. Electrical stimulation is probably too general for the brain's level of detail, as is shaking it up with ultrasound.
Drugs, targeted to specific areas and receptors (thus cell types), rather than bodywide, will likely provide the ultimate means of modifying the brain's activity.
Dr. Tyler,
The topic which you have never discussed is the limitation of standing waves or dead zones with regards to low frequency low intensity at 20 kHz. This might work on a small 'shapes', however never on arbitrariry shapes UNLESS you are able to eleminate these deadzones.
Thanks for your comments.
Sincerely,
Nico van Dongen
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