Centre for Neurotechnology and Neuromod+ seminar from Elsa Fouragnan
Professor in Neuroscience and Director of the Brain Research Imaging Centre (BRIC), University of Plymouth
Improving decision making through ultrasound-induced neuroplasticity
Join us in person at Imperial or via Teams (Livestream link to the left)
Talk summary: This talk will present recent evidence demonstrating that Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation (TUS) can induce transient, targeted neuroplastic changes in the human brain, with implications for both mechanistic research and therapeutic development. I will highlight TUS’s precision in targeting deep brain structures, its value in probing neural circuits, and its emerging clinical potential in psychiatric disorders. Drawing on recent human studies; including investigations into decision-making and a novel clinical work in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); I’ll present evidence of TUS’s effects on task-related neural changes, behaviour and symptoms demonstrating its promise as a transformative neuromodulation tool.
Bio: Elsa Fouragnan is a Professor in Neuroscience and the Director of the Brain Research Imaging Centre at the University of Plymouth, UK. Her work focuses on the pioneering use of transcranial ultrasound stimulation in humans, particularly in brain circuits related to decision making and learning. Her career transitioned from biomedical engineering to neuroscience, with postdoctoral fellowships at Glasgow and Oxford. In 2018, she started her lab to study neuroplasticity induced by focused ultrasound in brain circuits mediating adaptive and dysfunctional decision making. After many proof of concepts studies showing that ultrasound can induced neuroplasticity in humans, she is now bringing this technology forward to apply it to mental health disorders, particularly Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Alcohol Use Disorder. Her lab organises annual workshops to train academics and non-academics to use the technology and contributes to ITRUSST, a consortium advancing ultrasound for neuromodulation. Elsa is also a UKRI Future Leader Fellow, BBSRC recipient and an ARIA R&D creator.
This is an in-person seminar. Join us after the talk for refreshments and a chance to chat further to the speaker and network with colleagues.
If you are unable to join in person, you can join via Teams using the livestream link above.
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