Academic Journal
Transcranial focused ultrasound neuromodulation for post-traumatic stress disorder: Emerging evidence and outstanding challenges.
| Τίτλος: | Transcranial focused ultrasound neuromodulation for post-traumatic stress disorder: Emerging evidence and outstanding challenges. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Lin JH; Department of Neurology, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital (Hunan Provincial Veterans Administration Hospital), Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Changsha, Hunan 410000, PR China; Institute of Neuroscience & Department of Physiology, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang, Hunan 421001, PR China., Gao Y; Center of Cognition and Brain Science, Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Beijing, PR China. Electronic address: gaoyan211@163.com., Tang XQ; Department of Neurology, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital (Hunan Provincial Veterans Administration Hospital), Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Changsha, Hunan 410000, PR China; Institute of Neuroscience & Department of Physiology, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang, Hunan 421001, PR China; NHC Key Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disease (University of South China), Hengyang, Hunan 421001, PR China. Electronic address: tangxq-usc@usc.edu.cn. |
| Πηγή: | Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews [Neurosci Biobehav Rev] 2026 Aug; Vol. 187, pp. 106777. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 May 22. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article; Review |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Pergamon Press Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 7806090 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-7528 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 01497634 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Neurosci Biobehav Rev Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: New York Ny : Pergamon Press Original Publication: Fayetteville, N. Y., ANKHO International Inc. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic*/therapy , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic*/physiopathology , Brain*/physiopathology , Ultrasonic Therapy*/methods, Humans ; Animals |
| Περίληψη: | Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric condition precipitated by exposure to severe, threatening, or catastrophic events and is characterized by core symptoms including intrusion symptoms, avoidance behaviours, altered mood, and altered reactivity. Although evidence-based treatments, including trauma-focused psychotherapy and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, provide benefit for some patients, a substantial proportion exhibit incomplete response, relapse, or treatment resistance, underscoring an urgent need for novel therapeutic strategies. Transcranial focused ultrasound stimulation (tFUS) is an emerging non-invasive neuromodulation technique distinguished by its superior cranial penetrability and millimeter-scale spatial resolution. These properties enable relatively precise modulation of deep brain structures implicated in PTSD pathophysiology. In this review, we systematically examine the core neural circuitry implicated in PTSD. We place particular emphasis on the molecular and circuit-level mechanisms through which tFUS modulates neuronal excitability, synaptic plasticity, and large-scale network dynamics via mechanotransduction. We further synthesize emerging evidence from preclinical models and early-stage clinical studies suggesting that tFUS may reduce fear-related behaviours and improve PTSD-related symptoms. Finally, we critically discuss key challenges hindering clinical translation, including correcting transcranial acoustic aberrations, standardizing stimulation parameters, and achieving precise, individualized targeting. Collectively, this review highlights the potential of tFUS as an emerging neuromodulatory approach for PTSD, while underscoring several important mechanistic, technical, and translational challenges that remain to be addressed before broader clinical implementation. (Copyright © 2026 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.) |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Amygdala; Fear extinction; Medial prefrontal cortex; Non-invasive neuromodulation; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Transcranial focused ultrasound stimulation |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260523 Date Completed: 20260612 Latest Revision: 20260612 |
| Update Code: | 20260612 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2026.106777 |
| PMID: | 42176765 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1873-7528 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2026.106777 |