Neuromodulation

A small, deliberate family defined by mechanism rather than carrier. Most modalities in this atlas sort by their physical carrier — magnetic, electrical, photonic. These two do not: 40 Hz GENUS gamma stimulation arrives through light and sound, and LIFU through focused ultrasound, yet both act by modulating neural circuits, so filing them under “photonic” or “acoustic” would describe the delivery and miss the action. By contrast, rTMS stays in Electromagnetic and tDCS / tACS / taVNS stay in Electroceuticals, where the carrier is the mechanism. Both members here rest on real, dosed mechanisms under legitimate investigation, with human efficacy still at an early stage.

40 Hz / GENUS Gamma Sensory Stimulation (light+sound)GENUS uses rhythmic 40 Hz light and sound to entrain gamma-band neural oscillations, primarily explored as a potential intervention in Alzheimer's disease. The underlying mechanism is real and measurable — EEG-confirmed gamma entrainment, with amyloid and atrophy signals demonstrated in mice — but human efficacy remains unestablished, resting on small feasibility and pilot trials. Epistemically it sits at the early end of legitimate clinical investigation: a genuine neurophysiological phenomenon whose disease-modifying value in people is still being tested, not yet demonstrated.Insufficient evidence / under study grade C LIFU / tFUS — Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound NeuromodulationLow-intensity focused ultrasound can noninvasively reach deep and superficial brain targets with millimeter-scale spatial precision and reversibly modulate neural excitability, with reported effects that may be excitatory or inhibitory depending on the acoustic parameters used. Human evidence is early and parameter-sensitive: a systematic review of interventional human studies found both excitatory and inhibitory effects in motor and sensory regions while noting heterogeneity and incompletely understood mechanisms (Ho 2025), and early device and clinical work demonstrates feasible, well-tolerated targeting and preliminary cognitive signals (Bawiec 2025; JAMA Netw Open 2025). This is neuromodulation, not diagnostic ultrasound imaging — it should not be confused with full-body ultrasound scanning systems, which image anatomy and make no neuromodulatory claim.Insufficient evidence / under study grade C