Could Ultrasound Ease Schizophrenia Delusions? 10-Minute Brain Stimulation Helps in Small Trial

Brain stimulation with ultrasound may help reduce delusions experienced by people with schizophrenia, according to a small pilot study.

The trial tested transcranial ultrasound stimulation, a noninvasive technique in which a device placed on the head sends focused ultrasound waves through the skull and into a targeted region of the brain. The researchers found that a 10-minute treatment was associated with milder delusions for at least one week.

Delusions are false beliefs that can be extremely difficult to change. For example, a person may believe they are being stalked despite a lack of evidence, or that a catastrophe is about to happen. The study involved people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, conditions that can cause psychotic symptoms including delusions and hallucinations.

Ultrasound targeted a deep brain structure

The randomized, sham-controlled pilot study included 10 patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Schizoaffective disorder also includes mood symptoms such as mania.

Researchers interviewed each participant about the content of their delusions and assessed their cognitive states and experiences with auditory hallucinations, which involve hearing sounds that are not actually occurring. Each participant received both ultrasound stimulation and a placebo treatment one week apart.

Unlike transcranial magnetic stimulation, which uses magnetic fields, ultrasound can reach deeper brain structures with greater specificity, according to the study authors. Shai Shoham, a neuroengineer at New York University Grossman School of Medicine, compared the focused ultrasound transducer to a lens that directs light toward a specific location.

In this study, the researchers focused on the right internal globus pallidus, or GPI, a deep brain structure involved in networks beneath the brain’s outer cortex. The researchers selected this region because previous research found that stronger connections between the GPI and the dorsal anterior cingulate were associated with more severe psychotic symptoms in people with schizophrenia.

Delusions improved, but hallucinations did not

After each treatment, participants reported how strongly they believed their delusions and how much stress those beliefs caused them. Compared with the placebo treatment, ultrasound stimulation was associated with milder delusions during the following week.

However, the researchers did not observe significant changes in auditory hallucinations or overall cognition. The treatment was also linked to mild side effects, including fatigue and headache.

Some participants experienced a temporary increase in delusions. The researchers said these changes may reflect normal fluctuations in schizophrenia symptoms, because they occurred just as often after the placebo treatment.

How ultrasound could affect schizophrenia symptoms

The researchers suspect that schizophrenia symptoms may be linked to an imbalance between neuronal excitation and inhibition in brain circuits that help determine what information is important.

“The inability to suppress irrelevant signals may contribute to psychosis,” Dr. Wei Qi, a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at New York University Grossman School of Medicine, told Live Science.

Research into movement disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, has helped scientists understand how these networks may function. In Parkinson’s disease, an imbalance between excitation and inhibition affects neurons involved in movement. Scientists think a similar type of imbalance may contribute to some symptoms of schizophrenia.

“It’s too early to know for sure what the treatment effect will be, but it’s very interesting,” study co-author Dr. Donald Goff, professor of psychiatry at New York University Grossman School of Medicine, told Live Science.

A possible alternative to medication or surgery

Delivering ultrasound directly to a targeted brain region could eventually help avoid some systemic side effects associated with antipsychotic medications, such as weight gain and high blood pressure. However, the new findings are an early step and must be confirmed in larger clinical trials.

Deep brain stimulation can also target specific brain regions, but it requires surgeons to implant electrodes in the brain. Transcranial ultrasound may offer a less invasive way to reach structures below the cortex.

“Therapeutic attempts to target some of these deep structures have not been very successful,” said Dr. Deepak Sarpal, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine who was not involved in the study.

Other researchers are also investigating whether transcranial ultrasound can affect brain circuits involved in schizophrenia. Earlier this year, one group stimulated part of the striatum, a brain region located beneath the cortex, in people with schizophrenia. That study assessed hallucinations rather than delusions and found that the treatment reduced symptoms for at least one week after the procedure.

More research is needed

The targeted nature of transcranial ultrasound could make it useful both as a research tool and as a potential treatment. By stimulating specific parts of a brain circuit, scientists may be able to learn which patterns of activity are linked to psychotic symptoms.

The researchers plan to test the technology in more patients and investigate how different ultrasound doses affect symptoms.

“More work needs to be done, but we are very optimistic about its potential,” Goff said.

Study reference: Qi, W., Gilad, A., Santacatterina, M., Brinker, S., Capichioni, G., Ando, F., Shoham, S., and Goff, D.C. (2026). “Transcranial ultrasound stimulation of the right internal globus pallidus in schizophrenia: A randomized, sham-controlled pilot study.” npj Acoustics, 2:39.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not provide medical advice.