Trial reportBrain stimulation
Sonication of the anterior thalamus with MRI-Guided transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) alters pain thresholds in healthy adults: A double-blind, sham-controlled study.
Trial report in Brain stimulation. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05147142 (Low Intensity Focused Ultrasound), which is not on this map. Cited by 67 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Low Intensity Focused Ultrasound: a New Paradigm for Depression and Anxiety
Who cites it
67 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Neuromodulation effects of low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound in human, a systematic review focusing on motor and sensory functions.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Pooled it
- The efficacy and mechanisms of low-intensity transcranial ultrasound stimulation on pain: a systematic review of human and animal studies.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Pooled it
- Multi-focal ultrasound neuromodulation to the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex disrupts behavioural and neural pain processing.Nature communications · 2026Trial
- Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound of the Amygdala in Depression and Anxiety: A First-in-Human Active-Controlled Trial.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Effect of Low-Intensity Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Stimulation on Neuropathic Pain: Protocol for a Randomized, Single-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, 3-Arm, Parallel-Group Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- TRPC4/TRPC5 are critical for neuronal modulation by transcranial focused ultrasound in retrosplenial cortex in male mice.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Medial prefrontal cortex-targeted low-intensity focused ultrasound alleviates migraine-related allodynia and affective symptoms via modulating glutamate/GABA balance in mice.The journal of headache and pain · 2026Article
- Low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound engages parvalbumin-positive GABAergic interneurons in a humanized mouse model of chronic pain: from electrophysiology to cellular investigation.Journal of neural engineering · 2026Article
- Safety and neuromodulation effect of transcranial focused ultrasound for motor recovery in patients with subacute stroke.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Antidepressant effect of transcranial pulse stimulation (TPS) targeting neuropsychiatric disorders: a retrospective analysis.Psychological medicine · 2026Article
- Therapeutic modulation of empathy: pharmacological, neurostimulation, and behavioral approaches.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Review
- Translational prospectives for deep brain stimulation and low-intensity focused ultrasound neuromodulation: IFCN Handbook chapter.Clinical neurophysiology practice · 2026Review
- Parameter-Determined Effects: Advances in Transcranial Focused Ultrasound for Modulating Neural Excitation and Inhibition.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Role of thalamus in human conscious perception revealed by low-intensity focused ultrasound neuromodulation.Nature communications · 2025Article
- A panoramic review of transcranial focused ultrasound neuromodulation: from basic research to clinical applications.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Review
- Using Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound to Treat Depression and Anxiety Disorders: A Review of Current Evidence.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Modulates Visual Thalamus in a Nonhuman Primate Model.IEEE transactions on bio-medical engineering · 2025Article
- Ultrasound system for precise neuromodulation of human deep brain circuits.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Role of Thalamus in Human Conscious Perception Revealed by Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Neuromodulation with Ultrasound: Hypotheses on the Directionality of Effects and Community Resource.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
7 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTranscranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation method that may modulate deep brain structures. This study investigates whether sonication of the right anterior thalamus would modulate thermal pain thresholds in healthy individuals.
methodsWe enrolled 19 healthy individuals in this three-visit, double-blind, sham-controlled, crossover trial. Participants first underwent a structural MRI scan used solely for tFUS targeting. They then attended two identical experimental tFUS visits (counterbalanced by condition) at least one week apart. Within the MRI scanner, participants received two, 10-min sessions of either active or sham tFUS spread 10 min apart targeting the right anterior thalamus [fundamental frequency: 650 kHz, Pulse repetition frequency: 10 Hz, Pulse Width: 5 ms, Duty Cycle: 5%, Sonication Duration: 30s, Inter-Sonication Interval: 30 s, Number of Sonications: 10, ISPTA.
resultsThe right anterior thalamus was accurately sonicated in 17 of the 19 subjects. Thermal pain sensitivity was significantly attenuated after active tFUS. The pre-post x active-sham interaction was significant (F(1,245.95) = 4.03, p = .046). This interaction indicates that in the sham stimulation condition, thermal pain thresholds decreased 1.08 °C (SE = 0.28) pre-post session, but only decreased .51 °C (SE = 0.30) pre-post session in the active stimulation group.
conclusionsTwo 10-min sessions of anterior thalamic tFUS induces antinociceptive effects in healthy individuals. Future studies should optimize the parameter space, dose and duration of this effect which may lead to multi-session tFUS interventions for pain disorders.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.