2023 journal article
Activation of primate frontal eye fields with a CMUT phased array system
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE METHODS, 402.
author keywords: Transcranial focused ultrasound; Non-invasive stimulation; Frontal eye fields; Local field response; Behavioral task
TL;DR:
A new approach for non-invasive stimulation during performance of a behavioral task is provided with the ability to steer stimulation patterns and target using a large amount of transducers, which will be greatly improved for future clinical and research applications.
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UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
3. Good Health and Well-being
(Web of Science)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: January 22, 2024
There are pushes toward non-invasive stimulation of neural tissues to prevent issues that arise from invasive brain recordings and stimulation. Transcranial Focused Ultrasound (TFUS) has been examined as a way to stimulate non-invasively, but previous studies have limitations in the application of TFUS. As a result, refinement is needed to improve stimulation results. We utilized a custom-built capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) that would send ultrasonic waves through skin and skull to targets located in the Frontal Eye Fields (FEF) region triangulated from co-registered MRI and CT scans while a non-human primate subject was performing a discrimination behavioral task. We observed that the stimulation immediately caused changes in the local field potential (LFP) signal that continued until stimulation ended, at which point there was higher voltage upon the cue for the animal to saccade. This co-incided with increases in activity in the alpha band during stimulation. The activity rebounded mid-way through our electrode-shank, indicating a specific point of stimulation along the shank. We observed different LFP signals for different stimulation targets, indicating the ability to"steer" the stimulation through the transducer. We also observed a bias in first saccades towards the opposite direction. In conclusion, we provide a new approach for non-invasive stimulation during performance of a behavioral task. With the ability to steer stimulation patterns and target using a large amount of transducers, the ability to provide non-invasive stimulation will be greatly improved for future clinical and research applications.