Flashing lights could ‘STOP Alzheimer’s disease in its tracks’
FLASHING disco lights could stop Alzheimer’s in its tracks, a study shows.
Experts found strobe-type lighting halts the build-up of harmful deposits in the brain.
Tests on mice showed the deposits – called amyloid plaques – were halved within an hour of being exposed to flickering lights.
The unlikely treatment has yet to be tried on humans.
But scientists at the world-renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology are hopeful it could be a drug-free way to stop the growing dementia epidemic.
Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia now kill more Brits than heart disease.
Deaths have more than doubled over the last five years.
Around 850,000 Brits have the disease – but there is currently no effective treatment.
Researchers shone LED lights - flickering at a frequency of 40HZ - into the eyes of mice with toxic protein build-up in the brain.
These dangerous plaques are thought to be the main cause of Alzheimer’s disease.
Scientists found the light boosted gamma waves in the brain.
If humans behave similarly to mice in response to this treatment, I would say the potential is just enormous
Dr Li Huei Tsai
An hour of exposure to the flashing lights also stimulated cells that break up damaging proteins.
Scientists immediately noticed protein levels were plummeting in parts of the brain called the visual cortex and the hippocampus, according to a report in the journal Nature.
However, they returned to normal within 24 hours, casting doubt on whether the effect is permanent.
Generating the right strength of gamma waves is crucial for memory, perception and attention span.
Lead researcher Dr Li Huei Tsai said: “So many things have been shown to work in mice, only to fail in humans.
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“But if humans behave similarly to mice in response to this treatment, I would say the potential is just enormous.”
Now a company, called Cognito Therapeutics, has been set up to test the lights on humans.
British experts last night welcomed the findings.
Dr Mark Dallas from Reading University said: “This is interesting.
“But we are some way off using it as a rationale for new treatments.”
Alzheimer’s Society research director Dr Doug Brown said: “It could spark new avenues of research.”
And Dr David Reynolds from Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “Researchers need to explore how light flickering reduces amyloid in brain areas more commonly affected in Alzheimer’s.”