The new field of sonogenetics uses sound waves to control the behavior of brain cells.
Summary: A new technology known as sonogenetics can control neural activity by using sound frequencies. The technology could be used to non-invasively treat a range of neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.
What if you didn’t need surgery to implant a pacemaker on a faulty heart? What if you could control your blood sugar levels without an injection of insulin, or mitigate the onset of a seizure without even pushing a button?
I and a team of scientists in my laboratory at the Salk Institute are tackling these challenges by developing a new technology known as sonogenetics, the ability to non invasively control the activity of cells using sound.
From light to sound
I am a neuroscientist interested in understanding how the brain detects environmental changes and responds. Neuroscientists are always looking for ways to influence neurons in living brains so that we can analyze the outcome and understand both how that brain works and how to better treat brain disorders.
Creating these specific changes requires the development of new tools. For the last two decades the go-to tool for researchers in my field has been optogenetics, a technique in which engineered brain cells in animals are controlled with light. This process involves inserting an optic fiber deep within the animal’s brain to deliver light to the target region.
When these nerve cells are exposed to blue light, the light-sensitive protein is activated, allowing those brain cells to communicate with each other and modify the animal’s behavior. For example, animals with Parkinson’s disease can be cured of their involuntary tremors by shining light on brain cells that have been specially engineered making them light-sensitive. But the obvious drawback is that this procedure depends on surgically implanting a cable into the brain – a strategy that cannot be easily translated into people.
My goal had been to figure out how to manipulate the brain without using light.
Sound control
I discovered that ultrasound – sound waves beyond the range of human hearing, which are noninvasive and safe – is a great way to control cells. Since sound is a form of mechanical energy, I figured that if brain cells could be made mechanically sensitive, then we could modify them with ultrasound. This research led us to the discovery of the first naturally occurring protein mechanical detector that made brain cells sensitive to ultrasound.
Our technology works in two stages. First we introduce new genetic material into malfunctioning brain cells using a virus as a delivery device. This provides the instructions for these cells to make the ultrasound-responsive proteins.
he next step is emitting ultrasound pulses from a device outside the animal’s body targeting the cells with the sound-sensitive proteins. The ultrasound pulse remotely activates the cells.
The advantages of sonogenetics
This initial finding marked the birth of a new technique that offers insights into how cells can be excited by sound. Additionally, I believe that our results suggest that sonogenetics can be applied to manipulate a wide variety of cell types and cellular functions. (!!!!!!?)…
…humans, unlike worms, do not have the have the TRP-4 gene. So my plan is to introduce the sound-sensitive protein into the specific human cells that we want to control. The advantage of this approach is that the ultrasound won’t interfere with any other cells in the human body.
The best part about sonogenetics is that it doesn’t require a brain implant. For sonogenetics, we use artificially engineered viruses – that are unable to replicate – to deliver genetic material to brain cells. This allows the cells to manufacture sound-sensitive proteins. This method has been used to deliver genetic material to human blood and heart muscle cells in pigs. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???)
Sonogenetics, though still in the very early stages of development, offers a novel therapeutic strategy for various movement-related disorders including Parkinson’s, epilepsy and dyskinesia. In all of these diseases, certain brain cells stop working and prevent normal movements. Sonogenetics could enable doctors to turn on or turn off brain cells at a specific location or time and treat these movement disorders without brain surgery.
What is happening in your brain as you are scrolling through this page? In other words, which areas of your brain are active, which neurons are talking to which others, and what signals are they sending to your muscles?
Mapping neural activity to corresponding behaviors is a major goal for neuroscientists developing brain-machine interfaces (BMIs): devices that read and interpret brain activity and transmit instructions to a computer or machine. Though this may seem like science fiction, existing BMIs can, for example, connect a paralyzed person with a robotic arm; the device interprets the person’s neural activity and intentions and moves the robotic arm correspondingly.
In general, all tools for measuring brain activity have drawbacks. Implanted electrodes (electrophysiology) can very precisely measure activity on the level of single neurons, but, of course, require the implantation of those electrodes into the brain. Non-invasive techniques like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can image the entire brain but require bulky and expensive machinery. Electroencephalography (EEGs) does not require surgery but can only measure activity at low spatial resolution.
Ultrasound works by emitting pulses of high frequency sound and measuring how those sound vibrations echo throughout a substance, such as various tissues of the human body. Sound travels at different speeds through these tissue types and reflects at the boundaries between them. This technique is commonly used to take images of a fetus in utero, and for other diagnostic imaging.
Ultrasound can also “hear” the internal motion of organs. For example, red blood cells, like a passing ambulance, will increase in pitch as they approach the source of the ultrasound waves, and decrease as they flow away. Measuring this phenomenon allowed the researchers to record tiny changes in the brain’s blood flow down to 100 micrometers (on the scale of the width of a human hair).
“When a part of the brain becomes more active, there’s an increase in blood flow to the area. A key question in this work was: If we have a technique like functional ultrasound that gives us high-resolution images of the brain’s blood flow dynamics in space and over time, is there enough information from that imaging to decode something useful about behavior?” Shapiro says. “The answer is yes. This technique produced detailed images of the dynamics of neural signals in our target region that could not be seen with other non-invasive techniques like fMRI. We produced a level of detail approaching electrophysiology, but with a far less invasive procedure.”
Neural Dust – “Smart Dust” – has entered the mainstream via the Independent’s article: “Tiny implant could connect humans and machines like never before.” It is implied to be a new technology that can wirelessly link a human brain to a computer via the implantation of a device the size of a grain of sand. The article below was published by me at Activist Post in 2013 and draws upon research from many years previous. This invention is clearly nothing new; but when the mainstream media begins highlighting something that is literally wireless mind control, it’s worth taking note. It is also worth noting that, as more people learn about science fiction becoming science reality, they are becoming increasingly hesitant about the lack of ethical boundaries for what is emerging.
It sounds like the beginning of a Stephen King novel: a protagonist bolts up in bed, his unsuspecting brain picking up ultrasound waves crashing in the air. These waves have the power to fry his delicate neural tissue—instead, they silently spark his neurons into action. Horrified, the man watches his arms pull back the sheets, as if controlled by an amorphous puppeteer.
Using extrasensory sound waves to alter someone’s actions sounds like a classic sci-fi trope. Yet last week, at the Society for Neuroscience conference in Washington, DC, two teams of scientists presented proof-of-concept data showing that acoustic mind control may be possible.
Open any book of speculative science fiction and chances are, the subject of mind control will come up. Not so much the ability to control others with one’s mind (a la telepathy or telekineses), but the ability to interface with machines, send messages, and even exercise control one’s own biological functions through sheer thought.
Whether it is enabled by cybernetic implants, nano machines, or electrodes that transmit thoughts as data, the concept of this technology-enabled kind of telepathy has been around for many decades.
Well, as the saying goes, science fiction eventually becomes science fact. And thanks to ongoing research into electroencephalography (EEG) brainwave monitors, wireless technology, brain-to-computer interfaces (BCI), brain-to-brain interfacing (BBI), mind-control is fast becoming that very thing.
According to a 2018 study in the International Journal of Social Work and Human Services Practice, “Sound vibrations can affect us either positively or negatively, entering into our being, via the physical, mental and emotional realms, thereby affecting our consciousness as a whole.”
But can frequency-based technology also be used to control people’s minds, soldiers or otherwise? Tesla, would argue, “Yes!”
However, DARPA is telling the public that this technology is more like a continuation of centuries of military innovation such as the invention of the helmet, kevlar, or GPS.
“Just as service members put on protective and tactical gear in preparation for a mission, in the future they might put on a headset containing a neural interface, use the technology however it’s needed, then put the tool aside when the mission is complete,” said N3 Program Manager Dr. Al Emondi, in a statement.
“If N3 is successful, we’ll end up with wearable neural interface systems that can communicate with the brain from a range of just a few millimeters, moving neurotechnology beyond the clinic and into practical use for national security,” he added.
To enable future non-invasive brain-machine interfaces, N3 researchers at DARPA are working to develop solutions that address challenges such as the physics of scattering and weakening of signals as they pass through skin, skull, and brain tissue, as well as designing algorithms for decoding and encoding neural signals that are represented by other modalities such as light, acoustic, or electro-magnetic energy.
Humans and the Earth Share the Same Frequency
Let us continue with what Tesla said about frequencies:
“Alpha waves in the human brain are between 6 and 8 hertz. The wave frequency of the human cavity resonates between 6 and 8 hertz.
“All biological systems operate in the same frequency range.
“The human brain’s alpha waves function in this range and the electrical resonance of the earth is between 6 and 8 hertz.
“Thus, our entire biological system – the brain and the earth itself – work on the same frequencies.
“If we can control that resonate system electronically, we can directly control the entire mental system of humankind.”
Everything is Vibration
Cymatic evidence that vibrational waves form patterns in nature.
DARPA, the Department of Defense’s research arm, is paying scientists to invent ways to instantly read soldiers’ minds using tools like genetic engineering of the human brain, nanotechnology and infrared beams. The end goal? Thought-controlled weapons, like swarms of drones that someone sends to the skies with a single thought or the ability to beam images from one brain to another.
DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) announced that six teams will receive funding under the Next-Generation Non surgical Neurotechnology (N3) program. Participants are tasked with developing technology that will provide a two-way channel for rapid and seamless communication between the human brain and machines without requiring surgery.
Mind control using sound waves? We ask a scientist how it works.
At the moment, non-invasive neuromodulation – changing brain activity without the use of surgery – looks poised to usher in a new era of healthcare. Breakthroughs could include the better management of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, reducing the pain of migraines or even reversing cognitive disorders caused by brain injury.
But what happens if this technique for altering our brain waves escapes regulation and falls into the wrong hands? Imagine a dictatorial regime with access to the tricks and tools to change the way its citizens think or behave.
hat’s the ethical battleground that Antoine Jerusalem, a professor of engineering science at Oxford University, finds himself in as he researches the potential of ultrasound technology to tackle neurological diseases and disorders.
In this interview, conducted as part of the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering in the Middle East of scientists, government and business, he tells us more about this growing field of research.
Controlling the brain with sound waves: how does it work?
Well, to get straight to the science, the principle of non-invasive neuromodulation is to focus ultrasound waves into a region in the brain so that they all gather in a small spot. Then hopefully, given the right set of parameters, this can change the activity of the neurons.
If you want to get rid of neurons that have gone wild, for example in epilepsy, then you might want to crank up the energy to essentially kill them. But if you want to selectively promote or block the neuronal activity, you need to fine-tune your ultrasound waves carefully. (!!!)
In other words, there’s a difference between ultrasound stimulation used for removing tissue, and ultrasound neuromodulation, which is aimed at controlling neuronal activity without damaging the tissue. (!!!!!!)
Ultrasound neuromodulation is something that definitely works, but that we still don’t understand. (!!!!!)
What social good can come of it?
The current buzzwords are Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, as well as traumatic brain injuries. But scientists are also looking at the spinal cord and peripheral nervous systems. As far as I am concerned, since the brain is the de facto center of decision for so many processes, any of them could be targeted.
Is it safe?
When attempting to ‘control’ neuronal activity by providing minute mechanical vibrations to a region of the brain, it’s important that the focus of the ultrasound, frequency and amplitude are properly tuned, or the brain can potentially be damaged.(!!!!!!)
The point is that we still don’t know how to tune all of this; and if I were to exaggerate a bit, I could say that our current approach is not that far off from fiddling around with the settings on a radio until we hear the right station.
One of the many difficulties is to know for sure that we are indeed controlling neurons with these sound waves, as opposed to damaging them. The truth is that we still don’t know how the process works. And if you don’t know how it works, you don’t know how much is “too much”. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)….HOW MUCH IS TO MUCH ???????????????
What are the biggest ethical challenges?
The potential of this technique is huge – by that I mean the sheer number of applications, as well as the ethical use.
From a biological perspective, it’s similar to drugs. It can cure you, it can get you addicted, and it can kill you. It’s all about staying within a given set of rules. From an ethical perspective, the world is changing so fast that it’s difficult to assess what will be acceptable tomorrow that is not today.
I am also convinced that human nature is such that if something can be done, it will be done. The question is by whom. I would rather have a fair society leading the dance than some rogue state without any respect for human or animal life. If we want to lead that dance 10 years from now, we need to start researching today.
How dystopian could it get?
I can see the day coming where a scientist will be able to control what a person sees in their mind’s eye, by sending the right waves to the right place in their brain. My guess is that most objections will be similar to those we hear today about subliminal messages in advertisements, only much more vehement.
This technology is not without its risks of misuse. It could be a revolutionary healthcare technology for the sick, or a perfect controlling tool with which the ruthless control the weak. This time though, the control would be literal.
What can we do to safeguard its potential?
I am not going to argue that scientists are all wise and knowledgeable when it comes to what should and should not be done. Some of us will go as far as we can get away with. But that’s human nature, and not unique to scientists.
Either way, our job is to find something that is beneficial to humanity. And if you find a way to make somebody better, then you most likely also know how to do the contrary. The goal is to make sure that regulation prevents the latter, without impeding the former. I believe that this is the role of regulators. And I think that the European Union, where I work, is quite good at this.
Another role of politicians should be to provide a communication platform to explain the long vision of any given area of research. And it can be too early, or not a good idea, and the final decision might very well be to stop it. But in the long term, the public should have the potential benefits of a new technology explained to them in plain words, which is something that scientists are not necessarily good at.
Politicians should remember that if we don’t do it, then somebody somewhere will do it anyway…potentially unregulated.
Here’s an archive link to it… Here’s an archive link to the WEF’s you will own nothing article…
UNIVERSE 