Human brain stimulation with transcranial ultrasound: Potential applications for mental health

Interest in noninvasive brain stimulation for therapeutic effects on mental health has increased in recent years. The ability to directly modulate brain activity in targeted or diffuse regions noninvasively, that is, from outside the skull, has enormous potential for the treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders. Brain stimulation also holds promise for the functional mapping of brain systems by coupling stimulation with subjective report and imaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). A potential advantage of therapeutic brain stimulation over pharmacological intervention is that targeted stimulation of brain circuits implicated in psychiatric disorders might minimize global effects on the brain and body, potentially minimizing or eliminating side effects.