Precision ultrasound could treat deep parts of brain without surgery

A low-power ultrasound system can alter activity deep within the brain with far greater precision than previously possible, allowing the organ to be studied in new ways. It will also help brain surgeons plan operations and could be used to treat some conditions directly.

“I think it does open a new avenue for neuroscience,” says Charlotte Stagg at the University of Oxford, whose team created the system. “We can, for the first time, transiently, safely, non-invasively modulate activity in various bits of the deep brain and…