Low-Intensity Ultrasound Causes Direct Excitation of Auditory Cortical Neurons
Cochlear implantation is the first-line treatment for severe and profound hearing loss in children and adults. However, deaf patients with cochlear malformations or with cochlear nerve deficiencies are ineligible for cochlear implants. Meanwhile, the limited spatial selectivity and high risk of inva...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Neural Plasticity |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/8855055 |
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| author | Xiaofei Qi Kexin Lyu Long Meng Cuixian Li Hongzheng Zhang Lili Niu Zhengrong Lin Hairong Zheng Jie Tang |
| author_facet | Xiaofei Qi Kexin Lyu Long Meng Cuixian Li Hongzheng Zhang Lili Niu Zhengrong Lin Hairong Zheng Jie Tang |
| author_sort | Xiaofei Qi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Cochlear implantation is the first-line treatment for severe and profound hearing loss in children and adults. However, deaf patients with cochlear malformations or with cochlear nerve deficiencies are ineligible for cochlear implants. Meanwhile, the limited spatial selectivity and high risk of invasive craniotomy restrict the wide application of auditory brainstem implants. A noninvasive alternative strategy for safe and effective neuronal stimulation is urgently needed to address this issue. Because of its advantage in neural modulation over electrical stimulation, low-intensity ultrasound (US) is considered a safe modality for eliciting neural activity in the central auditory system. Although the neural modulation ability of low-intensity US has been demonstrated in the human primary somatosensory cortex and primary visual cortex, whether low-intensity US can directly activate auditory cortical neurons is still a topic of debate. To clarify the direct effects on auditory neurons, in the present study, we employed low-intensity US to stimulate auditory cortical neurons in vitro. Our data show that both low-frequency (0.8 MHz) and high-frequency (>27 MHz) US stimulation can elicit the inward current and action potentials in cultured neurons. c-Fos staining results indicate that low-intensity US is efficient for stimulating most neurons. Our study suggests that low-intensity US can excite auditory cortical neurons directly, implying that US-induced neural modulation can be a potential approach for activating the auditory cortex of deaf patients. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7441726e802b4d9fbeb450df2aeca664 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2090-5904 1687-5443 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Neural Plasticity |
| spelling | doaj-art-7441726e802b4d9fbeb450df2aeca6642025-08-20T03:33:53ZengWileyNeural Plasticity2090-59041687-54432021-01-01202110.1155/2021/88550558855055Low-Intensity Ultrasound Causes Direct Excitation of Auditory Cortical NeuronsXiaofei Qi0Kexin Lyu1Long Meng2Cuixian Li3Hongzheng Zhang4Lili Niu5Zhengrong Lin6Hairong Zheng7Jie Tang8Department of Physiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, ChinaPaul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, ChinaDepartment of Physiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, ChinaPaul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, ChinaPaul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, ChinaPaul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, ChinaDepartment of Physiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, ChinaCochlear implantation is the first-line treatment for severe and profound hearing loss in children and adults. However, deaf patients with cochlear malformations or with cochlear nerve deficiencies are ineligible for cochlear implants. Meanwhile, the limited spatial selectivity and high risk of invasive craniotomy restrict the wide application of auditory brainstem implants. A noninvasive alternative strategy for safe and effective neuronal stimulation is urgently needed to address this issue. Because of its advantage in neural modulation over electrical stimulation, low-intensity ultrasound (US) is considered a safe modality for eliciting neural activity in the central auditory system. Although the neural modulation ability of low-intensity US has been demonstrated in the human primary somatosensory cortex and primary visual cortex, whether low-intensity US can directly activate auditory cortical neurons is still a topic of debate. To clarify the direct effects on auditory neurons, in the present study, we employed low-intensity US to stimulate auditory cortical neurons in vitro. Our data show that both low-frequency (0.8 MHz) and high-frequency (>27 MHz) US stimulation can elicit the inward current and action potentials in cultured neurons. c-Fos staining results indicate that low-intensity US is efficient for stimulating most neurons. Our study suggests that low-intensity US can excite auditory cortical neurons directly, implying that US-induced neural modulation can be a potential approach for activating the auditory cortex of deaf patients.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/8855055 |
| spellingShingle | Xiaofei Qi Kexin Lyu Long Meng Cuixian Li Hongzheng Zhang Lili Niu Zhengrong Lin Hairong Zheng Jie Tang Low-Intensity Ultrasound Causes Direct Excitation of Auditory Cortical Neurons Neural Plasticity |
| title | Low-Intensity Ultrasound Causes Direct Excitation of Auditory Cortical Neurons |
| title_full | Low-Intensity Ultrasound Causes Direct Excitation of Auditory Cortical Neurons |
| title_fullStr | Low-Intensity Ultrasound Causes Direct Excitation of Auditory Cortical Neurons |
| title_full_unstemmed | Low-Intensity Ultrasound Causes Direct Excitation of Auditory Cortical Neurons |
| title_short | Low-Intensity Ultrasound Causes Direct Excitation of Auditory Cortical Neurons |
| title_sort | low intensity ultrasound causes direct excitation of auditory cortical neurons |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/8855055 |
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