Stimulating the brain with sound | Kim Butts Pauly and Raag Airan

As we gain a better understanding of how misfiring brain circuits lead to mental health conditions, we'd like to be able to go in and nudge those circuits back into balance. But this is hard — literally — because the brain is encased in this thick bony skull. Plus, often the problem you want to target is buried deep in the middle of a maze of delicate brain tissue you need to preserve.Today we're going to be talking with neuroscientists who aim to solve this problem with sound. And not just any sound: ultrasound.Kim Butts Pauly and Raag Airan from the Stanford Department of Radiology are developing ultrasound technology in a couple of different ways to essentially reach into the brain to treat brain disorders that are otherwise hard to access. These uses of ultrasound haven't yet reached the clinic, but could be entering clinical testing in people in the next few years. Mentioned on the ShowMeet the 2025 Neurosciences Postdoctoral Scholars (Wu Tsai Neuro, 2025)Butts Pauly LabAiran LabNon-invasive brain stimulation opens new ways to study and treat the brain (Wu Tsai Neuro, 2025)Advancing Brain Resilience: 2024 Catalyst and Pilot Grant Awards (Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience, 2024)Researchers find response to ketamine depends on opioid pathways, but varies by sex (Stanford Medicine)A New Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation System for Preclinical Brain Research (Focused Ultrasound Foundation, 2024)Translating Neuroscience Advances into Real World Uses (Wu Tsai Neuro, 2023)Get in touchWe want to hear from your neurons! Email us at at [email protected] if you'd be willing to help out with some listener research, and we'll be in touch with some follow-up questions.Episode CreditsThis episode was produced by Michael Osborne at 14th Street Studios, with production assistance by Morgan Honaker. Our logo is by Aimee Garza. The show is hosted by Nicholas Weiler at Stanford's Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute and supported in part by the Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience at Wu Tsai Neuro.Send us a text!Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying our show, please take a moment to give us a review on your podcast app of choice and share this episode with your friends. That's how we grow as a show and bring the stories of the frontiers of neuroscience to a wider audience.We want to hear from your neurons! Email us at at [email protected] more about the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.