Tracing the Evolution of Ultrasound in Treating Movement Disorders

Ultrasound has moved from a diagnostic imaging tool to an instrument that can reach deep brain circuits and change how they behave. In movement disorders that transition has been fast. Magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound now produces precise thermal lesions in the thalamus, the globus pallidus and the subthalamic nucleus, offering an incisionless option for essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease. In parallel, low intensity transcranial ultrasound stimulation has emerged as a reversible way to modulate cortical, subcortical and even spinal targets, with a spatial resolution and depth that electrical and magnetic methods cannot match. Recent work spans both ends of this spectrum, from consecutive series of unilateral focused ultrasound subthalamotomies in Parkinson’s disease to the demonstration that spinal cord ultrasound stimulation modulates corticospinal excitability in humans. Understanding how the field arrived here, and which mechanisms explain it, has become essential.The aim of this Research Topic is to trace how ultrasound became both a therapeutic and an investigative tool in movement disorders, and to consolidate what is known about the mechanisms that make it work. We invite contributions that follow the technique from early lesioning attempts to current image guided practice, and from the first reports of reversible neuromodulation to today’s targeted protocols. We are particularly interested in studies that link acoustic parameters to measurable changes in motor physiology, such as corticospinal excitability, intracortical inhibition, oscillatory activity and sensorimotor integration. Work that compares ultrasound with other forms of stimulation, that models acoustic dose and target engagement, or that uses imaging to predict and explain motor outcomes is equally welcome. We also encourage historical and conceptual perspectives explaining why targets such as the ventral intermediate nucleus, the pallidum and the subthalamic nucleus became central to the field. The result should be a collection that connects the evolution of the technology with the neuroscience of human movement.This Research Topic welcomes Original Research, Reviews, Mini Reviews, Systematic Reviews, Hypothesis and Theory, Methods, Perspectives and Brief Research Reports on themes including, but not limited to:• Historical development of therapeutic ultrasound in movement disorders• Magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy, pallidotomy and subthalamotomy• Low intensity transcranial ultrasound stimulation of cortical, deep and spinal targets• Mechanisms of acoustic neuromodulation• Effects on corticospinal excitability, motor learning, balance and gait• Acoustic simulation, dosimetry and personalized targeting• Imaging biomarkers that predict motor response• Comparisons with magnetic and electrical stimulation methods• Safety, tolerability and reporting standardsStudies in essential tremor, Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, ataxia and tremor of other origin are all appropriate. In line with the section scope, submissions should keep the neuroscience of human movement at the centre. Purely clinical trials may be better suited to Frontiers in Neurology. Topic editors: Carlos Juri, Yuming Lei Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86095/tracing-the-evolution-of-ultrasound-in-treating-movement-disorders