Biology subjects

Tanter, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Tanter, M..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2018

Non-invasive ultrasonic modulation of visual evoked response by GABA delivery through the blood brain barrier

We demonstrate the feasibility of non-invasively modulating the visual cortex activity of non-human primates by local ultrasound-induced delivery of an inhibitory neurotransmitter (GABA). GABA was injected intravenously after the blood brain barrier (BBB) was transiently disrupted with focused ultrasound (FUS) coupled with ultrasound contrast agents (UCA). Visual evoked potentials exhibited a significant and progressive decrease of the activity. Combined effects of neuromodulation and BBB opening were shown to be 8.7 times less important than GABA-induced inhibition. During the sonication, the UCA harmonic response was monitored to estimate the level of stable cavitation (signature of BBB opening efficiency) and to avoid damages due to inertial cavitation (automatic shutdown of the sonication when detected). As recent developments in beam forming have shown that ultrasound beams can be focused non-invasively in deep-seated human brain locations, our results hold promise to explore and treat the brain with a non-invasive, controllable, repeatable and reversible method.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

Multi-scale mapping along the auditory hierarchy using high-resolution functional UltraSound in the awake ferret

A major challenge in neuroscience is to longitudinally monitor whole brain activity across multiple spatial scales in the same animal. Functional UltraSound (fUS) is an emerging technology that offers images of cerebral blood volume over large brain portions. Here we show for the first time its capability to resolve the functional organization of sensory systems at multiple scales in awake animals, both within structures by precisely mapping sensory responses, and between structures by elucidating the connectivity scheme of top-down projections. We demonstrate that fUS provides stable (over days), yet rapid, highly-resolved 3D tonotopic maps in the auditory pathway of awake ferrets, with unprecedented sharp functional resolution (100m). This was performed in four different brain regions, including small (1-2mm3 size), subcortical (8mm deep) and previously undescribed structures in the ferret. Furthermore, we used fUS to map longdistance projections from frontal cortex, a key source of sensory response modulation, to auditory cortex.

neuroscience↗