Small Focus/Transparent Transducers for Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation in Mice

Human neuroscience does not currently have a noninvasive tool to focally modulate activity anywhere in the brain. This is a critical unmet need: without a focal brain-wide neuromodulation technique, hypotheses on neural circuit function generated from neuroimaging and behavioral studies remain correlational, and circuit-based treatments for central nervous system disease are limited by lack of depth and anatomical specificity. Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation (TUS) is rapidly emerging a powerful tool for neuroscience and clinical applications. However, the mechanisms, targeting performance, and efficacy are currently not well understood. Mice are the ideal model system to study the biophysics of these processes, using well developed tools based on genetically encoded calcium indicators (GCaMPs). The goal of this research is to use an innovative ultrasound transducer that provides an order of magnitude smaller focal spots at frequencies relevant to humans and therefore enabling technology for research in mice. We then use this transducer to obtain preliminary data with a novel paradigm, based on hippocampal slice data, to probe whether there is a state dependency of TUS to the visual cortex. Project Number: 1R03NS144995-01A1 | Fiscal Year: 2026 | NIH Institute/Center: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) | Principal Investigator: Kim Butts Pauly (+1 co-PI) | Institution: STANFORD UNIVERSITY, STANFORD, CA | Award Amount: $154,274 | Activity Code: R03 | Study Section: Special Emphasis Panel[ZRG1 NINC-Q (01)] View on NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11374078