# Focused ultrasound for noninvasive brain stimulation

> **NIH NIH R01** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2020 · $400,000

## Abstract

We propose to develop focused ultrasound (FUS) for deep brain stimulation (DBS.) DBS is a proven therapy
for movement disorders and holds considerable promise for psychiatric conditions such as medically
intractable depression. The main drawback of electrical DBS is that it is highly invasive. Non-invasive
methods, such as transcranial magnetic or direct current stimulation (TMS and TDCS) have limited
penetrability to reach deep brain structures. Is a novel approach that uses focused ultrasound (FUS) to reach
any brain structure and directly stimulate or inhibit neurons in the targeted region. The method is non-invasive,
but spatially and temporally precise. It has been hypothesized that FUS interacts with ion-channel coupled
mechanoreceptors that occur naturally in the targeted brain region. We have recently shown that FUS can
improve performance on a decision-making task in monkeys. Here, we propose to study the mechanism
underlying this effect by varying FUS frequency and pressure in awake monkeys trained to make evidence and
reward based decisions, and in anesthetized monkeys undergoing fMRI. We will also test whether FUS
enhances the efficacy of neuroactive drugs. FUS could provide a new research tool for establishing causal
brain-behavior relationships and mapping neural circuits in healthy humans. It also provides a novel method for
introducing neuroactive drugs that do no cross the intact BBB, or enhancing the effect of drugs that do cross
the BBB. The development of sonogenetics could make deep brain stimulation available for patients who are
not candidates for surgical approaches. Our approach incorporates safety controls to demonstrate that neural
and behavioral effects of FUS or FUS+microbubbles are not due to edema, hemorrhage, lesions or thermal
effects.The proposed experiments are essential for establishing the efficacy of focused ultrasound deep brain
stimulation to treat psychiatric illnesses that affect cognition and motivation. To reap these benefits, it is
necessary to determine the behavioral effects of FUS alone or in combination with other factors such as
microbubbles. We are currently the only group currently developing this approach in the basal ganglia of
awake, behaving monkeys as well as examining the FUS technique with and without microbubbles in order to
exploit its full scope.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9853839
- **Project number:** 5R01MH112142-04
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** VINCENT P FERRERA
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $400,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-04-01 → 2022-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9853839

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9853839, Focused ultrasound for noninvasive brain stimulation (5R01MH112142-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9853839. Licensed CC0.

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