Researchers Develop Ultrasound Device That Stimulates Five Brain Targets Simultaneously and Visualizes Activity

Holographic ultrasound brain stimulation

Researchers in Zurich and New York have developed a holographic, transcranial ultrasound system that can noninvasively stimulate multiple brain targets at once — up to five sites simultaneously — and visualize the resulting activity, marking a step-change in multi-site neuromodulation.

Neuroscience News reports that the system "for the first time, can noninvasively and precisely stimulate 3–5 brain regions at once," producing "highly focal, dynamically steerable responses" and enabling "explicit control of stimulated volume" while modulating network projections.

Nau similarly reports a device that "can stimulate the brain through the skull and, for the first time, target up to five points simultaneously with greater precision."

Both pieces cite the work (Razansky et al.) in Nature Biomedical Engineering and note the system’s capacity to influence distributed brain networks rather than only single sites.

Note: only two source snippets were provided, so each citation list below includes the two available sources and I could not provide 3–5 distinct sources per paragraph because only two sources were supplied.

Multi-site brain stimulation findings

In experimental tests the team reports that simultaneous multi-site stimulation lowered activation thresholds by roughly an order of magnitude and allowed control over both local and mid-range network projections.

The researchers suggest that network interactions drive the amplified responses.

Neuroscience News summarises the empirical and mechanistic dual-modelling framework the researchers built to explain results, saying the models "suggest network interactions largely drive the observed effects" and that the method generated "behaviourally relevant spatio-temporal" responses.

Nau’s coverage echoes the enhanced precision claim and highlights that noninvasive stimulation through the skull enables the approach without surgery.

Limitation: only the two provided sources were available for corroboration.

Safety and clinical implications

Nau quotes ETH Professor Daniel Razansky directly on safety, saying "lower ultrasound intensities are safer".

Nau also points to an earlier "all-or-nothing" limitation where either no response or widespread, uncontrolled excitation — with risk of brain damage — occurred.

Neuroscience News lists potential clinical applications including Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, tremor, Parkinson’s, depression and stroke recovery.

It also flags that simultaneous targeting improves the ability to influence neural activity "safely and effectively."

Both sources connect the approach to a range of neurological disorders.

Nau foregrounds the safety note as a barrier overcome by lower intensities.

Only the two provided sources were available for these points.

Coverage comparison

Both sources note the study is published open-access in Nature Biomedical Engineering and report authorship centered on Razansky and colleagues.

The coverage differs in emphasis but converges on the novelty and translational promise of holographic, multi-site transcranial ultrasound.

Neuroscience News describes mechanistic modelling and network effects to explain why simultaneous stimulation can be more effective, while Nau stresses clinical translation and safety quotes.

Only the two supplied snippets were available for this synthesis, so broader media context could not be incorporated.