Effects of transcranial ultrasound stimulation pulsed at 40 Hz on Aβplaques and brain rhythms in 5×FAD mice

Background:Alzheimer's disease(AD)is the most common cause of dementia,and is characterized by amyloid-β(Aβ)plaques and tauopathy.Reducing Aβhas been considered a major AD treatment strategy in pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches.Impairment of gamma oscillations,which play an important role in perception and cognitive function,has been shown in mouse AD models and human patients.Recently,the therapeutic effect of gamma entrainment in AD mouse models has been reported.Given that ultrasound is an emerging neuromodulation modality,we investigated the effect of ultrasound stimulation pulsed at gamma frequency(40 Hz)in an AD mouse model.Methods:We implanted electroencephalogram(EEG)electrodes and a piezo-ceramic disc ultrasound transducer on the skull surface of 6-month-old 5×FAD and wild-type control mice(n=12 and 6,respectively).Six 5×FAD mice were treated with two-hour ultrasound stimulation at 40 Hz daily for two weeks,and the other six mice received sham treatment.Soluble and insoluble Aβlevels in the brain were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Spontaneous EEG gamma power was computed by wavelet analysis,and the brain connectivity was examined with phase-locking value and cross-frequency phase-amplitude coupling.Results:We found that the total Aβ42 levels,especially insoluble Aβ42;in the treatment group decreased in pre-and infra-limbic cortex(PIL)compared to that of the sham treatment group.A reduction in the number of Aβplaques was also observed in the hippocampus.There was no increase in microbleeding in the transcranial ultrasound stimulation(tUS)group.In addition,the length and number of microglial processes decreased in PIL and hippocampus.Encel-phalographic spontaneous gamma power was increased,and cross-frequency coupling was normalized,implying functional improvement after tUS stimulation.Conclusion:These results suggest that the transcranial ultrasound-based gamma-band entrainment technique can be an effective therapy for AD by reducing the Aβload and improving brain connectivity.

Pole placement approach to coherent passive reservoir engineering for storing quantum information

Reservoir engineering is the term used in quantum control and information technologies to describe manipulating the environment within which an open quantum system operates. Reservoir engineering is essential in applications where storing quantum information is required. From the control theory perspective, a quantum system is capable of storing quantum information if it possesses a so-called decoherence free subsystem （DFS）. This paper explores pole placement techniques to facilitate synthesis of decoherence free subsystems via coherent quantum feedback control. We discuss limitations of the conventional ＇open loop＇ approach and propose a constructive feedback design methodology for decoherence free subsystem engineering. It captures a quite general dynamic coherent feedback structure which allows systems with decoherence free modes to be synthesized from components which do not have such modes.