Our human trial of gamma sensory stimulation or “flicker” in human Alzheimer’s patients based on our animal studies is now published: https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/trc2.12178
This was an illuminating (pun intended) collaboration the clinical team at EmoryBrain Health Center led by James Lah and Allan Levey and the Wood lab and Singer lab at Georgia Tech. In planning the trial, we worried that participants would not tolerate the stimulation (flickering lights and sound) and/or balk at doing it every day for an hour a day for weeks. Tolerance and adherence were higher than we expected.
We found intriguing biological effects (preliminary because it is a small, short trial). First, 8 weeks of flicker increased connectivity in brain networks known to weaken in Alzheimer’s (default mode network connectivity). Second, immune factors in the CSF changed after 8 weeks of flicker, indicating immune engagement in humans. We think immune signaling is key to mechanism of action of this stimulation.
You can watch the stimulation in action and hear from a participant here at 34:00 mins https://www.pbs.org/video/memory-qwrgkm/
Read a lay description of the work here: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/can-flickering-light-and-sound-treat-alzheimers