Targeting central thalamus with transcranial ultrasound reduces arousal in healthy volunteers
Abstract
Using low-intensity focused transcranial ultrasound stimulation, we test the causal roles of the central thalamus in arousal and the pulvinar in visuospatial attention in the healthy human brain. In a within-subjects, counterbalanced design, 27 healthy volunteers (two females) complete a vigilance task (Psychomotor Vigilance Task) and a visuospatial attention task (Egly-Driver Task) before and after sham, central thalamic, and pulvinar sonication. Targeting the central thalamus slows responses and increases lapses in attention during the vigilance task, indicating reduced arousal. Pulvinar sonication reduces (and slows) responses to visual stimuli presented contralaterally, suggesting a disruption of contralateral visuospatial attention. These results provide causal evidence linking the pulvinar to visuospatial attention and the central thalamus to arousal in the healthy human brain and demonstrate that ultrasound can elicit distinct behavioral changes in healthy volunteers when delivered to close but functionally distinct thalamic regions, underscoring its potential as a tool for noninvasive brain mapping.
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BibTeX
@article{hopkins2026targeting,
title = {{Targeting central thalamus with transcranial ultrasound reduces arousal in healthy volunteers}},
author = {Amber R. Hopkins and Joshua A. Cain and Elizabeth A. White and Stephanie M. Abakians and Martin M. Monti},
journal = {Communications Biology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s42003-026-10637-7},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-026-10637-7},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Targeting central thalamus with transcranial ultrasound reduces arousal in healthy volunteers
AU - Amber R. Hopkins
AU - Joshua A. Cain
AU - Elizabeth A. White
AU - Stephanie M. Abakians
AU - Martin M. Monti
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/26
JO - Communications Biology
DO - 10.1038/s42003-026-10637-7
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-026-10637-7
AB - Using low-intensity focused transcranial ultrasound stimulation, we test the causal roles of the central thalamus in arousal and the pulvinar in visuospatial attention in the healthy human brain. In a within-subjects, counterbalanced design, 27 healthy volunteers (two females) complete a vigilance task (Psychomotor Vigilance Task) and a visuospatial attention task (Egly-Driver Task) before and after sham, central thalamic, and pulvinar sonication. Targeting the central thalamus slows responses and increases lapses in attention during the vigilance task, indicating reduced arousal. Pulvinar sonication reduces (and slows) responses to visual stimuli presented contralaterally, suggesting a disruption of contralateral visuospatial attention. These results provide causal evidence linking the pulvinar to visuospatial attention and the central thalamus to arousal in the healthy human brain and demonstrate that ultrasound can elicit distinct behavioral changes in healthy volunteers when delivered to close but functionally distinct thalamic regions, underscoring its potential as a tool for noninvasive brain mapping.
SN - 2399-3642
ER -