Abstract: Understanding how brain networks are organized and how they support cognition and behavior is a central goal of neuroscience. My earlier research approached this through neuroimaging, by mapping network organization and its contribution to attention, toolmaking, and communication. My current research moves from mapping brain networks to causally probing and modulating their activity.
 

Transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) enables non-invasive neuromodulation with unprecedented spatial precision, including in deep brain regions beyond the reach of conventional non-invasive techniques. Realizing this potential, however, requires solving substantial challenges in targeting, measuring, and interpreting its effects. I will discuss how we address these within the EU Pathfinder CITRUS consortium and present preliminary findings from TUS-fMRI studies targeting the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, a key node implicated in major depressive disorder, both during and following stimulation. Finally, I will outline how TUS opens new avenues for basic and clinical neuroscience, in particular for understanding learning and plasticity, and for developing individualized therapeutic interventions.
 

About the Speaker: Dr. Suhas Vijayakumar is a cognitive neuroscientist and postdoctoral researcher at University Medical Center Mainz, Germany. He obtained his PhD from the Donders Institute at Radboud University in the Netherlands, studying the organization of parietal-frontal networks in humans and macaques, and subsequently worked at Harvard University on brain structures underlying communication in chimpanzees and toolmaking and language in humans. His current research combines transcranial ultrasound stimulation with functional MRI to investigate deep-brain neuromodulation. His broader interests include learning, plasticity, and translating neuromodulation research into clinical applications.

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