Could focused ultrasound help rewire the brain to be more present? Research suggests it's a possibility
Targeting a specific region of the brain with focused ultrasound could help improve a person’s ability to live in the moment.
That’s according to new work out of the University of Arizona detailing how transcranial focused ultrasound (TFUS) can alter activity in the brain’s default mode network (DMN).
The DMN is believed to play a role in things like daydreaming, planning and self-awareness. It is most active when someone’s mind is inattentive, wandering or “lost” in something like a good song or book.
Prior research has indicated that the posterior cingulate cortex of the DMN is associated with how a person perceives different experiences. Though introspection is important, too much can also obscure a person’s ability to be present, which can lead to rumination and negative thinking, experts involved in the research suggest.
This could be why the role of the DMN has been questioned in numerous behaviors and neurological and mental health disorders thought to be rooted in alterations of brain connectivity, like depression, addiction, autism, ADHD and schizophrenia.
“Collectively, the clinical literature suggests that a breakdown in the regulation of the DMN may be one mechanism underlying these disorders (e.g., abnormal DMN activity leading to increased rumination in depression),” lead study author Brian Lord, a postdoctoral researcher in the U of A department of psychology, and colleagues explained. “Thus, potential treatments that normalize DMN function may be called for.”
Lord’s team sought out to determine how targeting part of the DMN with TFUS would affect a person’s mood, mindfulness and self-related processing. To do this, they externally applied just five minutes of TFUS to the area near the posterior cingulate cortex of 15 individuals, while also giving “sham” TFUS to another 15 people. Each person underwent functional MRI before and after to monitor changes in brain activity, in addition to being asked to report how they felt during and after their treatment based on a series of questionnaires.
On imaging, the group who received TFUS displayed significantly reduced functional connectivity along the midline of the DMN, while no changes were observed in the sham group. The TFUS group also reported an increased sense of mindfulness, time and self-perception after their treatment.
"We are the first to show that the default mode network can be directly targeted and noninvasively modulated," Lord said in a release. "The best part is you are using a minimal amount of energy to alter brain activity. You are just giving a gentle push to the brain with low-intensity ultrasound.”
The ability to noninvasively target the DMN using focused ultrasound could open the door for experts to develop precision therapeutics, especially within the space of mental health, the researchers suggested.
"Unlike neuroimaging techniques where you can only make correlations with brain activity, noninvasive stimulation tools like TFUS allow you to probe the brain and develop causal models," Lord said. "That's a really powerful thing for the whole field of neuroscience."
The study can be viewed in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She joined Innovate Healthcare in 2021 and has since put her unique expertise to use in her editorial role with Health Imaging.