Effects of Low-intensity Focused Ultrasound Stimulation On Working Memory in Vascular Dementia Rats

Vascular dementia (VD) is a kind of senile dementia with cognitive impairments. Working memory impairment is one of the remarkable symptoms after VD, while there is still no effective treatment. Due to the good penetrability and high spatial resolution, low-intensity focused ultrasound stimulation (LIFUS) has been recognized as a potential noninvasive therapeutic method in nervous system diseases. Whether LIFUS could reverse the working memory impairment is still unknown. Thus in this study, we tested the neuroprotective effects of 0.5 MHz LIFUS with a pulse repetition frequency of 2.0 kHz; and spatial peak temporal average intensity of 500 mW/cm² at duty cycle of 20% on VD-induced working memory impairment. Our research suggested that the VD model impaired the spatial working memory and recognition memory, while 2-week LIFUS treatment could some extent improve spatial working memory driven by spontaneous alternation or rewards. Thus, these findings indicated that LIFUS might become a potential therapy for VD in the future.