Alzheimer's Disease Treatment With Combination of 40Hz Light and Cognitive Therapy
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Combination of 40Hz light and cognitive therapy (ALZLIFE).
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Alzheimer Disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Dementia, Cognition Disorders in Old Age. Basic parameters: from 50 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- United States
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Official title
An Observational Trial of Alzheimer's Disease Treatment With Combination of 40Hz Light and Cognitive Therapy
Overview
Electrical activity in the brain known as "gamma" brainwaves help connect and process information throughout the brain. These gamma waves are diminished in Alzheimer's disease. New research in Alzheimer's disease mouse models shows that exposure to light flickering at the rate of 40 flashes per second or 40Hz increased gamma brainwaves and led to clearing of beta amyloid plaques in the brain, a key abnormality in Alzheimer's disease. This project will test the ability of a novel iPad App (AlzLife https://www.alz.life/) that delivers light therapy at 40 Hz combined with cognitive therapy to improve cognition, function, and quality of life in Alzheimer's disease.
Detailed description
New research suggests that exposure to a light flickering at 40Hz may promote gamma brain wave activity through the photic entrainment phenomenon. These waves have the potential to activate critical cleaning cells in the brain that could eliminate beta amyloid plaques. The most recent research on light therapy for Alzheimer's disease appeared in the journal Nature in 2017, entitled "How flashing lights and pink noise might banish Alzheimer's, improve memory and more" (the full article can be freely accessed at: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-02391-6) and in 2016, entitled "Gamma frequency entrainment attenuates amyloid load and modifies microglia" (the article abstract can be accessed at: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature20587). Researchers from MIT found that shining a strobe light into the eyes of mice with a rodent version of Alzheimer's disease encouraged protective cells to phagocytize the harmful proteins that accumulate in the brain. The perfect rate of flashes was determined to be 40 per second. Exposure to the flashing light for an hour (light therapy) led to a noticeable reduction in beta amyloid levels the next day in regions of the neocortex and hippocampus. When done every day for a week, beta amyloid levels were greatly reduced.
In addition, there is a significant body of evidence that computerized brain training (cognitive therapy) improves the memory of patients with Alzheimer's and dementia, which could help avert some symptoms of cognitive decline.
The synergistic combination of light and cognitive therapy utilized in AlzLife has the potential to improve the brain's function better than either of these therapies alone. This project will test the ability of a novel iPad App ("ALZLIFE") that delivers light therapy at 40 Hz combined with cognitive therapy to improve cognition, function, and quality of life in Alzheimer's disease.
Interventions
- Device Combination of 40Hz light and cognitive therapy (ALZLIFE)
Combination of 40Hz light and cognitive therapy delivered by iPad application ALZLIFE
Primary outcome measures
- In-app cognitive test [Time frame: through study completion, an average of 1 year]
Secondary outcome measures (1)
- Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study-activities of daily living (ADCS-ADL) [Time frame: through study completion, an average of 1 year]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Alzheimer's disease
- Cognitive Impairment
Exclusion criteria
- any previously noted epileptic seizures, including febrile seizures.
- any significant disease of the eye, such as macular degeneration. Since the 40Hz light therapy is delivered via eye stimulation, healthy eyes are required.
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: Yes
Study design
- Observational model
- Cohort
Study locations
United States · 1 center
- Andrey Vyshedskiy — Miami
Publications
- Iaccarino HF, Singer AC, Martorell AJ, Rudenko A, Gao F, Gillingham TZ, Mathys H, Seo J, Kritskiy O, Abdurrob F, Adaikkan C, Canter RG, Rueda R, Brown EN, Boyden ES, Tsai LH. Gamma frequency entrainment attenuates amyloid load and modifies microglia. Nature. 2016 Dec 7;540(7632):230-235. doi: 10.1038/nature20587. PMID 27929004
- Thomson H. How flashing lights and pink noise might banish Alzheimer's, improve memory and more. Nature. 2018 Mar 1;555(7694):20-22. doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-02391-6. No abstract available. PMID 29493598
- Martorell AJ, Paulson AL, Suk HJ, Abdurrob F, Drummond GT, Guan W, Young JZ, Kim DN, Kritskiy O, Barker SJ, Mangena V, Prince SM, Brown EN, Chung K, Boyden ES, Singer AC, Tsai LH. Multi-sensory Gamma Stimulation Ameliorates Alzheimer's-Associated Pathology and Improves Cognition. Cell. 2019 Apr 4;177(2):256-271.e22. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.02.014. Epub 2019 Mar 14. PMID 30879788
Identifiers
NCT: NCT03657745 · AlzLife001