Author: Marentsova Anastasiya
Translator: Turarova Aiym
Copy editors: Kigbayeva Kamila, Issabayeva Madina
In a laboratory experiment on macaques, American scientists from the University of Utah demonstrated the possibility of influencing the brain and behavior using ultrasonic pulses.
According to an article published in the journal Science Advances, laboratory experiments were conducted on a pair of rhesus macaques whose heads were fixed immobile. On the dark screen, they were shown 3 points in turn, which both humans and monkeys reflexively follow the look in order of appearance. However, the experimental macaques were trained not to take their eyes off the first point to receive the reward.
During the experiments, scientists acted with short pulses of ultrasound to affect the frontal oculomotor fields — the areas of the frontal lobes that control the direction of vision. As expected, when acting on the left field, the macaques more often turned their eyes to the right point, and when acting on the right field — to the left.
According to the result, scientists concluded that ultrasound excites not just the motor reflex, but directly affects the decisions made by the brain. The authors hope that in the future, the ability of ultrasound waves to influence the exercise of choice noninvasively without the use of drugs may provide new opportunities for the diagnosis and treatment of choice disorders. Targeted stimulation of cells in certain areas of the brain will allow them to "rewire", changing the neural patterns associated with the development of harmful addictions.
Source: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/
