A new tool has been developed that activates deep brain neurons, with the aim of treating neurodegenerative diseases. This is achieved by combining ultrasound and genetics. The research forms part of a promising new field, themed sonothermogenetics.
The initial studies suggest that the application of this technique can be used to control behavior through the stimulation of a specific target, located deep within the brain. Targets include the ventral intermediate nucleus of the thalamus, which shows promise for relieving tremor associated with some neurodegenerative conditions.
Washington University in St. Louis scientists are seeking to find ways of switching in an doff specific neurons in the brain with the objective of precisely controlling motor activity. One important part of the research is that the application does not require surgical device implantation.
The primary research application is with the treatment of conditions like Parkinson’s disease as well as forms of epilepsy. So far, the results have been demonstrated in rodents.
According to lead researcher Professor Hong Chen, the study to date provides “evidence that sonothermogenetics evokes behavioral responses in freely moving mice while targeting a deep brain site.”
Furthermore, the researcher expects the technique to one day have the ability “to transform our approaches for neuroscience research and uncover new methods to understand and treat human brain disorders.”
With the study using mice, Professor Chen and his team delivered small bursts of heat via low-intensity focused ultrasound at specific neurons in the brain . The ultrasound was projected from a wearable device. This activated the TRPV1 ion channel, which is capable of turning the neurons on or off.
The ultrasound needs to be varied depending on channel and stimulus intensity. To improve this, additional applications drawn from optogenetics was required in order to express light-sensitive ion channels to further stimulate neurons deep in the brain.
A video outlining the study further can be found here.
The research to date has been published in the journal Brain Stimulation. The research paper is titled “Sonothermogenetics for noninvasive and cell-type specific deep brain neuromodulation.”
