Reversible modulation of a deep white matter surgical target for depression with low-intensity focused ultrasound.

ABSTRACT: Current efforts to establish anatomically precise and causal deep brain circuit-symptom relationships to predict surgical responses require the insertion of intracranial electrodes. In the present study (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05697172) we examined whether low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU; FDA Q220192) could modulate the white matter tracts in the anterior limb of the internal capsule (ALIC), a common surgical target for the treatment of refractory depression. We based our human study on the in vitro observation that ultrasound attenuates conduction in myelinated axons by operating mechanosensitive potassium channels in nodes of Ranvier. We employed a cross-over, randomized, sham-controlled, double-blind design to establish the ability of LIFU (80 s; 0.5 MHz; estimated peak tissue ene

SUBMITTER: Tsuchiyagaito A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12803698 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature