Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Alters Conflict and Emotional Processing, Physiology, and Performance I: Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex Targeting
Maria E Fini, William J. Tyler
medRxiv November 27, 2020 preprint DOI: 10.1101/2020.11.25.20234401 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Population | Human subjects |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Keywords | Anterior cingulate cortex Cognition Distraction Cognitive reappraisal Cognitive psychology |
| Citations | 5 |
| Key findings | tFUS targeted to the dACC reduced reaction time slowing due to emotional distractors and increased parasympathetic markers of heart rate variability, suggesting altered emotional processing and enhanced sustained attention. |
Abstract
ABSTRACT The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) operates as an integrator of bottom-up and top-down signals and is implicated in both cognitive control and emotional processing. The dACC is believed to be causally involved in switching between attention networks, and previous work has linked it to cognitive performance, concentration, relaxation, and emotional distraction. The present study was designed to evaluate the feasibility of influencing default mode network (DMN) activity and emotional attention by targeting and modulating the dACC with transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS). Subjects were divided into two groups, one receiving MR-neuronavigated tFUS to the dACC and the other an identical, but inactive tFUS sham. Subjects performed a modified version of the Erikson flanker paradigm using fear and neutral faces as emotional background distractors. Our observations demonstrate that tFUS can be targeted to the human dACC to produce effects consistent with those expected from relaxed contention, including significantly reduced reaction time slowing due to emotional distractors, and an increase in parasympathetic markers of the HRV. These results suggest that tFUS altered emotional processing and enhanced sustained attention, perhaps by facilitating reduced attentional engagement with emotional distractors and reduced need for attention switching evidenced by significant effects on event related potentials (ERPs), reduced alpha suppression, and modulation of delta and theta EEG activity. We conclude that the dACC represents a viable neuroanatomical target for tFUS in order to modulate DMN activity, including emotional attention, conflict resolution, and cognitive control. These effects of dACC-targeted tFUS may prove useful for treating certain mental health disorders known to involve perturbed DMN activity, such as depression and anxiety.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin Healthy volunteers | 2012 | Within-subjects, placebo-controlled, task-free fMRI study | n = 30 |
| The effects of psilocybin and MDMA on between-network resting state functional connectivity in healthy volunteers | 2014 | Placebo-controlled study | |
| Ketamine Decreases Resting State Functional Network Connectivity in Healthy Subjects: Implications for Antidepressant Drug Action Healthy subjects | 2012 | Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover rsfMRI challenge | |
| Antidepressants Normalize the Default Mode Network in Patients With Dysthymia Subjects with dysthymic disorder and healthy control participants aged 18 to 53 years | 2013 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 41 |
| Functional Connectivity Measures After Psilocybin Inform a Novel Hypothesis of Early Psychosis Healthy volunteers | 2012 | Within-subject, placebo-controlled experimental study | n = 15 |
Citations in the library
Cites 8
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- Regular, brief mindfulness meditation practice improves electrophysiological markers of attentional control Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
- Time course of conflict processing modulated by brief meditation training. Frontiers in Psychology July 3, 2015
- Cortical thickness, mental absorption and meditative practice: possible implications for disorders of attention. Biological Psychology February 2013
- Short-term meditation induces white matter changes in the anterior cingulate. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences August 31, 2010
and 3 more in the library