An experimental Alzheimer’s treatment involving sounds and flickering lights also prevented a decline in mental sharpness among mice having chemotherapy
By Clare Wilson
7 March 2024
Some cancer treatments cause what is known as chemo brain, generally defined as memory and concentration problems
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An experimental treatment for Alzheimer’s disease that involves flickering lights and low-pitched sound may also help prevent cognitive problems after cancer treatment, sometimes called chemo brain, a study in mice suggests.
For Alzheimer’s disease, the light and sound stimulation has been shown to ease memory and concentration problems in small trials in people, but it is still being investigated in larger studies.
The lights flicker 40 times a second, or 40 hertz, with the sound also having a frequency of 40 Hz. This frequency was originally selected because people with Alzheimer’s have a lower intensity of 40 Hz brainwaves, which are linked with memory processing. The idea was that the treatment would stimulate these brainwaves.
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Subsequent research suggests such brainwaves may result in broader benefits for the brain, including increasing the activity of immune cells and, most recently, boosting its drainage system, which could help clear a toxic protein called beta-amyloid.
Li-Huei Tsai at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who developed the approach, wondered if it could help people with cancer who experience memory and concentration problems after chemotherapy and other cancer treatments. It is thought these might be caused by damage to brain cells, but the exact mechanism is unclear and there are no treatments.