STAT+: Scientists install ‘window’ in the skull to record brain activity using ultrasound
Researchers may have a new way to watch the human brain pulse, thanks to an ultrasound probe and a tiny window in the skull.
This acoustically transparent hole allowed a team out of California to capture, using functional ultrasound imaging, an extraordinary view of human brain activity of very normal activities, according to a study published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine.
“Seeing into a human and literally looking into his brain as he was playing guitar or doing a connect the dots game was quite remarkable,” said co-author Richard Andersen, a neuroscientist at the California Institute of Technology.

