Low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound amygdala neuromodulation: a double-blind sham-controlled target engagement study and unblinded single-arm clinical trial

Mood, anxiety, and trauma-related disorders (MATRDs) are highly prevalent and comorbid. A sizable number of patients do not respond to first-line treatments. Non-invasive neuromodulation is a second-line treatment approach, but current methods rely on cortical targets to indirectly modulate subcortical structures, e.g., the amygdala, implicated in MATRDs. Low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) is a non-invasive technique for direct subcortical neuromodulation, but its safety, feasibility, and promise as a potential treatment is largely unknown. In a target engagement study, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided tFUS to the left amygdala was administered during functional MRI (tFUS/fMRI) to test…

• UO
  University of Texas at Austin
• OM
  One Mind
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Awards: R01MH129694, R01MH122387
• NI
  National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

  Award: R01AA021090
• NI
  National Institute of Mental Health

  Awards: R01MH129694, R01MH122387, K23MH114023, R01MH125886, R01MH117292, R01MH132784