Her Brain Was Broken. It Was Fixed With Sound—Not a Scalpel | WIRED
archive.today webpage capture Saved from history←priornext→ 14 Aug 2026 13:47:30 UTC All snapshots from host www.wired.com WebpageScreenshot sharedownload .zipreport bug or abuseBuy me a coffee Skip to main content NEWSLETTERS EMILY MULLIN THE BIG STORY AUG 14, 2026 6:00 AM Her Brain Was Broken. It Was Fixed With Sound—Not a Scalpel One woman’s meth addiction was so bad, the only option left might have been brain surgery. Then a single session of noninvasive, focused ultrasound seemed to do what years of treatment could not. ANIMATION: BALARAMA HELLER Listen • 21 minutes ERIN MCNULTY HAD been missing for weeks when her mother, Linda, sat down on a chair in her living room, exhausted. Linda had put in her usual seven-day workweek at the antiques shop she runs near Burlington, Vermont. She’d spent her free evenings driving around, trying to track down her daughter. Erin, 45 at the time, had been using methamphetamine for years. Her substance use started in high school—first alcohol,