PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Matthew E. Downs
AU  - Amanda Buch
AU  - Maria Eleni Karakatsani
AU  - Tobias Teichert
AU  - Carlos Sierra
AU  - Shangshang Chen
AU  - Elisa E. Konofagou
AU  - Vincent P Ferrera
TI  - Focused Ultrasound Enhances Decision-Making in Monkeys
AID  - 10.1101/041152
DP  - 2016 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 041152
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/02/23/041152.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/02/23/041152.full
AB  - Noninvasive brain stimulation using ultrasound has many potential applications as a research and clinical tool. Here, we investigated the effect of focused ultrasound (FUS) with systemically administered microbubbles on perceptual decision-making behavior in monkeys. We targeted FUS to the putamen in one hemisphere to open the blood-brain barrier, and then tested behavioral performance 3-4 hours later. On days when the monkeys were treated with FUS, their decisions were faster and more accurate than days without sonication. The performance improvement was greater for responses made with the hand contralateral to the treated hemisphere. FUS also enhanced the effect of a low dose of haloperidol. The results suggest that a two-minute application of FUS can have a sustained impact on cognitive performance, and can increase the efficacy of psychoactive medications.