Modulation effects of low-intensity transcranial ultrasound stimulation on the neuronal firing activity and synaptic plasticity of mice
Zhe Zhao, Hui Ji, Cong Zhang, Jiamin Pei, Xiangjian Zhang, Yi Yuan
NeuroImage 2023, 270, 119952 · 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.119952
Abstract
Low-intensity transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) has been effective in modulating several neurological and psychiatric disorders. However, how TUS modulates neuronal firing activity and synaptic plasticity remains unclear. Thus, we behaviorally tested the whisker-dependent novel object discrimination ability in mice after ultrasound stimulation and examined the cortical neuronal firing activity and synaptic plasticity in awake mice after ultrasound stimulation by two-photon fluorescence imaging. The current study presented the following results: (1) TUS could significantly improve the whisker-dependent new object discrimination ability of mice, suggesting that their learning and memory abilities were significantly enhanced; (2) TUS significantly enhanced neuronal firing activity; and (3) TUS increased the growth rate of dendritic spines in the barrel cortex, but did not promote the extinction of dendritic spines, resulting in enhanced synaptic plasticity. The above results indicate that TUS can improve the learning and memory ability of mice and enhance the neuronal firing activity and synaptic plasticity that are closely related to it. This study provides a research basis for the application of ultrasound stimulation in the treatment of learning- and memory-related diseases.
Abstract via europepmc.
Exposures
Exposure 1: TUS of barrel cortex
Target: primary somatosensory cortex — “barrel cortex (BC)”
Device: Olympus / Panametrics · Olympus · V301-SU ✓
| Waveform | pulsed | |
|---|---|---|
| Fundamental frequency (kHz) | 1,000 | ✓✓✓ |
| Pulse duration (ms) | 50 | ✓✓✓ |
| Pulse repetition frequency (Hz) | 1 | ✓✓✓ |
| Duty cycle (%) | 5pulse duration × PRF gives 5% | ✓✓✓ |
| Sonication duration (s) | not reported | ⚑ |
| Free-field pressure (kPa) | not reported | |
|---|---|---|
| Free-field Isppa (W/cm²) | not reported | |
| Free-field Ispta (W/cm²) | not reported | |
| In-situ estimate | not reported | |
| In-situ pressure (kPa) | not reported | |
| In-situ Isppa (W/cm²) | not reported | |
| In-situ Ispta (W/cm²) | not reported | |
| Pressure, domain unspecified (kPa) | 510 | ✓✓✓ |
| Isppa, domain unspecified (W/cm²) | 8.6 | ✓✓✓ |
| Ispta, domain unspecified (W/cm²) | 0.43 | ✓✓✓ |
Ultrasound delivered transcranially to the barrel cortex via a coupling tube; each stimulation was followed by a 5-min pause, for a total of three sets of 25 min per day, given once daily for 7 consecutive days while mice were awake and head-fixed. Five additional mice were stimulated with ultrasound parameters previously shown not to elicit auditory responses, to assess non-specific auditory confounds.
Flags from extraction
n_subjects— Sum of TUS-exposed animals across sub-experiments: 18 behavioural (TUS a+b+c groups, 6 each), 5 auditory-confound-control mice, 6 calcium-imaging TUS mice, and 5 dendritic-spine-imaging TUS mice; sham/control animals from each sub-experiment are excluded.exposures[0].timing.sonication_duration_s— Paper does not use the term 'sonication duration'; value taken as one 25-min set of repeating 1 Hz/50 ms pulses, described as 'a total of three sets of 25 min' separated by 5-min pauses.auditory_control— Paper used ultrasound stimulus parameters previously shown (Mohammadjavadi et al. 2019) not to elicit auditory responses, rather than a conventional masking-sound or sound-only sham; classified as 'other'.