Olfactory Transcranial Focused Ultrasound

This study investigates the causal effects of low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) on odor valence perception and odor-elicited avoidance behaviors in healthy adults. Participants undergo sham and active tFUS targeting the amygdala (AMYG) and ventral striatal olfactory tubercle (VSOT) in a within-subject, randomized, sham-controlled crossover design. Outcomes include subjective odor ratings and objective neurophysiological and behavioral indices of odor valence processing. This research is exploratory and mechanistic in nature and is not intended to evaluate clinical safety or therapeutic efficacy.

NCT Number	NCT07658365
Lead Sponsor	Medical University of South Carolina Collaborators: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Conditions	Healthy, Olfaction
Enrollment	28 participants
Start Date	2026-09-01
Primary Completion	2028-04-30 (estimated)
Study Completion	2028-04-30 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-06-22