Low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound suppresses pain by modulating pain-processing brain circuits.

ABSTRACT:

Abstract

There is an urgent and unmet clinical need to develop nonpharmacological interventions for chronic pain management because of the critical side effects of opioids. Low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) is an emerging noninvasive neuromodulation technology with high spatial specificity and deep brain penetration. Here, we developed a tightly focused 128-element ultrasound transducer to specifically target small mouse brains using dynamic focus steering. We demonstrate that tFUS stimulation at pain-processing brain circuits can significantly alter pain-associated behaviors in mouse models in vivo. Our findings indicate that a single-session focused ultrasound stimulation to the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) significantly attenuates heat pain sensitivity in

SUBMITTER: Kim MG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11406192 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature