Research Program Summary

In our primary area of focus, we are developing novel methods for the control of neuronal activity in intact brain circuits. To this end, we have been engineering methods, devices, and applications for the use of pulsed ultrasound in the noninvasive remote control of brain activity. We expect our work to provide a backbone for the design and implementation of brain stimulation therapies useful in managing a host of neurological diseases.

In a second set of investigations, we aim to better understand the manner by which natural activity patterns modify the strengths of sensory inputs. Here, we focus on primary sensory circuits in the rodent olfactory system to study experience-mediated changes in sensory input gain and how these changes participate in the production of different behaviors.

Education and Training

• Harvard University: Postdoctoral fellowship
• University of Alabama Birmingham: Ph.D., Psychology/Behavioral Neuroscience

Previous Positions

• Arizona State University
  Assistant Professor, Neurobiology and Bioimaging

Awards and Honors

• Innovation Award, Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council, 2013
• McKnight Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Award, 2012–2014
• DARPA Young Faculty Award, 2010–2012
• Academic Innovator of the Year, Arizona Research Council and Arizona Governor's Award, 2010

Selected Publications

• Legon W, Rowlands A, Opitz A, Sato TF, Tyler WJ. (2012). Pulsed ultrasound differentially stimulates somatosensory circuits in humans as indicated by EEG and fMRI. PLoS One, 7(12):e51177.
• Tyler WJ. (2012). The mechanobiology of brain function. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 13:867-878.
• Tufail Y, Yoshihiro A, Pati S, Li M, Tyler WJ. (2011). Ultrasonic neuromodulation by brain stimulation with pulsed ultrasound. Nature Protocols, 6(9):1453-70.
• Tufail Y, Matyushov A, Baldwin N, Tauchmann ML, Georges J, Yoshihiro A, Helms Tillery SI, Tyler WJ. (2010). Transcranial pulsed ultrasound stimulates intact brain circuits. Neuron, 66(5):681-694.
• Tyler WJ, Tufail T, Pati S. (2010). Pain: Noninvasive functional neurosurgery using ultrasound. Nature Reviews Neurology, 6(1):13-14.
• Tyler WJ. (2010). Noninvasive neuromodulation with ultrasound? A continuum mechanics hypothesis. The Neuroscientist, 17(1):25-36.
• Tyler WJ, Tufail Y, Finsterwald M, Tauchmann ML, Olsen EJ, Majestic C. (2008). Remote excitation of neuronal circuits using low-intensity, low-frequency ultrasound. PLoS One, 3(10):e3511.
• Hojjati, MR, van Woerden GM, Tyler WJ, Giese KP, Silva AJ, Pozzo-Miller L, Elgersma Y. (2007). Kinase activity is not required for aCaMKII-dependent presynaptic plasticity at hippocampal CA3-CA1 synapses. Nature Neuroscience, 10(9):1125-1127.
• Tyler WJ, Zhang X-I, Hartman K, Winterer J, Muller W, Stanton PK, Pozzo-Miller L. (2006). BDNF increases release probability and the size of a rapidly recycling vesicle pool within hippocampal excitatory synapses. Journal of Physiology, 574(3):787-803.

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